Giving and Receiving

Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; as it is written,

“He scattered abroad, he gave to the poor,  His righteousness endures forever.”

 Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness;  you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the [d]saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God. Because of the proof given by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your [e]contribution to them and to all, while they also, by prayer on your behalf, yearn for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!

2 Corinthians 9-6:15

This weekend we had our very first yard sale. Ever. It took a long time to prepare for this event. All of the organizing, packing, deciding what was really needed vs. what was not, and what should be in storage while we are gone was extremely overwhelming. As we recalled the memories made with many of our little treasures, emotions were unstable. There were tears, but laughter as well when we shared moments of pride or embarrassment. Through it all, we had true gratitude for all our memories that filled our years here. We heard a quote earlier this week from Fulton Sheen telling his niece, Joan Sheen Cunningham, “hold material things with a detached spirit. That way, if you lose them, it doesn’t matter.” This little Grace-filled advice came at the PERFECT time! (of course) By the time we eventually placed all our belongings out on our driveway, along with the other items donated by a couple of friends, we were excited to see if anyone else would be interested in our “precious goods”.

 As the sun was rising, so was our joy. We were giggling as Chris was loudly advertising the best sale ever in the history of S.Serena Hills Drive! :) Then a close friend came to help set up! The first of the stream of blessings that flowed throughout the day. 

I must say, though, right after that… crickets.  It started slow. No one showed for about an hour, and I was reminded of an experience another missionary shared with me. She didn’t have a place to have a yard sale, so her friend offered her lawn to help, and she even offered to take care of what was left after the sale. My missionary friend eventually left the sale crying, with her treasures still out. No one wanted what she thought were so valuable. I was picturing our future disappointment and reprimanded myself for not advertising better. Chris, however, was not worried one bit. “If it sells it sells. If not, oh well.” :) My balance! 

Then a car from NORTH CAROLINA showed up! A beautiful mom and son from our Emmaus Crew came to support us! After a while, a couple more cars showed up. More Emmaus peeps! And then, it seemed like a floodgate was open. People came from around the area and beyond. (Thank you, Facebook!) We even sold an item twice! (Yikes!) 

A couple of lessons were learned: 

1. Trust in Divine Providence. (There’s that TRUST lesson again!) I asked a sister of mine what kind of change I should have to be prepared. She told me that when she had yard sales, she trusted in Divine Providence and never had change. Sounded good! I like a little challenge for God to show up in a big way. We decided unless the object was “big”, we would just take donations. Once again, we weren’t disappointed.

As people asked, “How much?” We would say, “We are just taking donations. What do you think it’s worth?” This is a CRAZY way to sell things, but it was easy for me, and it truly balanced out! 

I remember one person bought some pretty pricey items and walked away paying only $25. I truly wanted to shout out, “Are you kidding me?”, but I reminded myself, “Ang, just stick to the plan! Divine Providence. Divine Providence...” The very next buyer bought what, in my mind, was almost worthless stuff for triple of what the previous shopper paid. Yup. He is faithful. 

2. The majority of people are so kind and are ready to help. When we told them of our future adventure, MANY shared stories of their “missionary experiences” and offered to help. We connected with our hearts! NO ONE was negative or critical of the plan. Some even gave more! And some of the beautiful people just donated if there was nothing they wanted. Which brings me to the last major blessing of the day: 

An old friend showed up to support us. She and her daughter hung out for a while. We caught up from where we left off years ago. They bought a few things, and then left. 

After the “official time” was over, we decided to put Job down for a nap. We heard a car pull up. It was my old friend and her daughter again! Her daughter was carrying a huge jar of money. Their family decided about five years ago that they would start putting their extra change in this jar. The intention was to fill it up each year and donate the money to a worthy cause. The daughter asked her mom if she could give it to us. They scrambled around the house to get anything extra laying around and brought it over. How beautiful, right? Yeah.. Praise God! 

You know, when we first accepted this calling we were excited about everything, EXCEPT for fundraising. I remember asking another missionary, “Why can’t we just sell all our stuff and live off of that?” She quickly reprimanded me. She helped me to understand that that is NOT how God works. His Word clearly states that we are to rely on each other. In doing so, we GROW together. Our donation is a vertical one. One where we all receive great graces. We are a team. As a team we work together, grow together, and see the benefits from our many hands. We deposit these “goods” in our Heavenly bank. One where God credits us with “interests” and we truly see His Glory in it! We had the opportunity to see the hearts of others as they gave joyfully today - JOYFULLY. That was the “interest” that He gave us. A sweet man told me as he was leaving, “You all are very special people,” but I think it’s the other way around! We got to experience empathy,  excitement, and genuine love from friends and total strangers. We were truly connected in such an uplifting way! He is so good to us… ALL the time! ;) I pray that everyone will have an experience like this in their lives. Times may be challenging right now, but today love, once again, triumphed! Glory be to God!  

God’s peace to all! 

Waldrops

The jar given to us. :)