Don't worry, there was no actual "wind" during most of our sale! In fact, it was the only 3 days of this summer so far without some kind of storm. Although we did have the worst storm, hail and all, the day before, and a heavy downpour the day after! The 3 days of our Adoption Fundraiser Yard Sale, there was only a momentary blowing while a storm was raging on the other side of the river, but never touched our side, and I credit that to the true "wind" that I'm referring to.
I am not a "garage sale queen"! I never have them because they are so much work and often without much results. So when my friends suggested I have another for a fundraiser, my insides screamed "NO!" I had been given many donations the previous fall when I attempted my first Adoption Garage sale, and it ended up being too cold and hardly anyone came. So all that stuff went stacked into our garage for another date. I was tempted to just back up a truck and load it all up to donate. But after I let my initial feelings settle, and I prayed about what I should do, I heard the Lord telling me to see it through. I could not have done it on my own though. The true motivation I had to persevere was being surrounded by amazing sisters in Christ who championed me and offered their services. I am tremendously blessed by amazing women who pray for each step of my path towards adopting, and are also just really good friends who brought their tables and donations, baked cookies, spent a morning helping me put it all out, and even came to assist in the selling. Their encouragement and love pushed my "sale" in motion. And their unquestioned support set my mind and heart in a right place to let the Holy Spirit move more throughout the sale.
It started with some of my friends making first purchases on set-up day, helping me make $100 before I even began. At the end of day 1 of my sale, my total profit was a little over $500. That was the amount I hoped to get for the whole sale! Because I did not want to price each item, I decided to make it a donation sale. And probably because I felt so blessed by what I had received already, I felt free to be giving in response.
On day 2, I had a mother with 4 kids in tow come to the sale. I noticed that her children stayed close to her as they all timidly looked over at the toys table. When the mother came up and asked "how much for this?", I went into my spiel saying, "This is a donation sale to raise money for our adoption. You give what you think the item is worth, or whatever you would like to donate." She looked a bit confused (as most people were) and walked back to the tables. I saw her 10 year old daughter reading our sign about it being a donation and the two of them having a discussion. They made a small pile of clothes and she came back to me and said, "Is $3 ok?" I smiled and said of course, as they then began to take their things to her van. As I watched her kids, I thought, they didn't even look at the kids books since they were staying so close to mom and my heart went out to them. I followed her to their van and asked would any of her kids like a book? It was then the scenario made more sense to me as the young daughter translated what I had said to the mother. She had not understood anything I had said before! After I guided the little girls to the book table and they took their time searching through them all, the one doing the translating came to me and asked if what she picked was ok. She had taken the two kids' bibles that were out there. And I could see the pure joy on her face. I told her I was so glad she wanted those books and she was welcomed to have them. After witnessing my generosity, the mother shopped some more and offered one more dollar for the items she selected. Those items were most definitely worth more, but I felt I needed to let the wind blow her "sail" the way the wind had been blowing mine.
Shortly after she left, I was sharing with a friend who was there helping me how nice it was to be able to bless that mom. Only moments after our conversation, a man walked up to my table and said, "I was here yesterday and just bought a cookie, while you told us your story. I have an adopted grandson and an Indian daughter-in-law, so I have half Indian grandchildren as well. I just felt strongly that I needed to help, so this is for you." He handed me an envelope and left without taking a thing. Inside was $100 in cash! This was confirmation from the Lord to not count the dollar amount anyone was able to offer. To freely give, and I would freely receive in return!
That story continued throughout the rest of the sale. One particular incident was when another woman without much means came up to me with her pile she had collected and offered $1, which I joyfully received. As this was happening, another woman with her granddaughter was overhearing. Afterwards she looked at me and in astonishment asked, "She got ALL that for just $1.00?" But what's so cool is it gave me a platform to share my trust that God would provide what I needed. So when she decided there was nothing there she really wanted except a doll her granddaughter picked out, she gave $5 and said she wished it was more. I had others who wanted to understand about the adoption process and offered their prayers. Some who just bought a bag of cookies for $20 or a glass of lemonade for $40! And other good friends came by just to give a generous donation to show their support. Our sale also provided a platform for a woman who had been seeing our adoption posts from afar to come and introduce herself and offer her services to help us have a future fundraiser! By the end of the 3 day sale, we totaled close to $1,700!!! While we were blessed with needed funds and a future fundraising opportunity for our adoption, others were blessed with items they themselves could not have afforded. Even to the moment we were packing things up, God continued to blow His wind through friends who arrived at the hottest time of day just to donate more money and help us load everything up! God IS so good!!! He is the wind in our "sale" and the one who will provide us with all that we need.
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