Saturday, July 14, 2012

10 Things That I Learned.......

.......while preparing and holding a yard sale.

1. My kids definitely have way too much! Talk about over indulgence! Holy smokes we had a lot of clothes! If I could collect a dollar for every item of clothing that we pulled out of the attic, our adoption would be fully funded!

2. I am emotionally attached to the clothes that were in the attic. It was hard letting go especially of the baby, baby clothes knowing that Susan is our last. Why can't they stay itty bitty forever?

3. Maternity clothes are really, REALLY comfy! I pulled out some pants and tried them on to reminisce how comfortable they are. They were so comfy that I decided to keep them for every day wear. In fact I'll share a little secret, I even wore a pair today, however I was constantly pulling my pants up so I decided it's time to let them go too.

4. People buy the things that you think wouldn't sell and the stuff that's left is the stuff that you  assumed would have gone first. One man's junk is another man's treasure for sure!

5. Even at a fundraiser people offer you a dime for everything, big and small. So you tell them why you are doing the fundraiser hoping they'll want to pay a little more, they seemed touched and you see a glimpse of hope, but then one second later they still ask, "So will you take a dime?" ha ha!

6. There are so many generous people too! Not only did we have several donations of stuff, including a whole storage unit of stuff, we had many people who would say, "Keep the change!" There are so many amazing people in this world. Many within our own community. Thank you all!

7. Hot dogs are a hit! Even at 10:30 am, the smell of a grill draws people in. We sold several hot dogs, people were just gobbling them up! Thanks Amy for standing over a hot grill to provide lunch to our fellow yard sellers.

8. You get very distracted when the yard sale is at your home and you're in charge. People are asking questions left and right and you really don't remember what you are doing. My oldest son could have told me that he was getting his nipple pierced and a tattoo and I would have kindly agreed. Thank goodness we had grandma and others around to watch the kiddos.

9. When you pray for something you had better be prepared for the answer. The weather forecast predicted rain today. Even last night it got a bit stormy and windy and I was worried that we would have to postpone. I prayed that we would have good weather at least until 1 pm when the yard sale ended and after that it could pour buckets if needed (which we do need living in a desert). Well morning came and it was beautiful. It was overcast and the sun peeked out to kiss us every now and then so it was absolutely perfect for a yard sale. We were blessed with this good weather up until 1pm, even 1:20 so we got a bit greedy and decided to keep going because we still had traffic. Well at 1:30 it starts to sprinkle and even then we thought that it would blow over, but it didn't. It actually started down pouring (buckets) and we were rushed to shove things back into the garage. Luckily through another tender mercy my best friend and her sister and their families arrived just as we were rushing to get stuff out of the rain and they saved the day. Lots of stuff got really, really wet, but it could have been worse had we not had their help. So I guess my point is, God answered my prayer and held off the rain until 1 pm like I had asked but we should have been satisfied and accepted His will and started packing up at 1 pm. Now our garage smells like a swamp but it's all good!

10. You never know what to expect when your holding a yard sale, but one thing holds true. The friends and family who come together to help is priceless. We could not have done it without the help of people showing up without being asked and just getting to work. We could not have done it without the generous donations. We could not have done it without grandma and others looking after the children so we could bargain and barter. Thank you, thank you! I was also reminded of how wonderful my husband is who reassured me that he would be able to unload the garage with only the help of our son. I sometimes forget that he is Superman! And who woke up at 6 am to hang signs. I was reminded of how wonderful and responsible my oldest boy is who also woke up early to get to work without any complaints. He too is another Superman in my life! I was filled with joy to see my little ones digging through boxes thinking they were helping when really they were just trying to acquire more junk! And my heart smiled when I saw the constant traffic of people who were there with even with their 10 cents to support our cause. We even had a couple of blog followers come! We had a very successful day! We raised $1700! Amazing!

We had such a successful day today that we have decided to do it another weekend. So if you have stuff we'll gladly accept it. It would be so wonderful to raise the same amount next weekend! We still have a lot, but new stuff would be nice for a little variety. We also have brand new sunglasses and reading glasses for sale. One of my dear friends donated hundreds of pairs of new glasses so there are many to choose from, both kids and adults sizes. Thanks J! And of course we'll be grilling hot dogs again. So drop off your stuff and stop by next Sat. the 21st for another fun filled, hot diggity dog day!

Once again many many thanks to those who made this day possible! We're getting closer! We feel blessed and know that the Lord has His hand in this. Just yesterday a friend reminded me that once we do all that we can do the Lord will step in and do the rest. I have always known this, but it was a nice reminder and I know that through Him all things are possible!












No comments:

Post a Comment