Immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine

June 14, 2020

Immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine - Yard Sale Edition

We finally got to have our yard sale. The weather couldn't have been more perfect both Friday and Saturday. Even though we only had the sale on Saturday we REALLY needed the nice weather on Friday as well so we could begin setting everything up. That prayer was answered. This sale was originally planned for April, but due to quarantine, we had to post-pone. Even though it was a little bit of a bummer, it allowed many more people to clean out their closets and donate their items. As many of you know, our garage was packed full. On Friday morning, we started by setting up and labeling tables. That allowed us to be able to pull things out of the garage and unbox things to place them on the correct table. This way we could keep things semi-organized. All of our tables were in the backyard as I didn't want to risk leaving everything out in the open over night. Plus, my already ever so gracious neighbors probably appreciated not to have to see everything sitting out ;) It was so tempting to leave everything in the back yard instead of having to move it to the front, but I wanted to make sure everyone could see things by driving by. Plus, I felt people may feel more comfortable not having to come into our backyard. This is just a little glimpse into what our backyard looked like on Friday. We could not have gotten this all done without the help that we had. Also, a big shout out to my mother-in-law that not only took care of our kids but helped to watch our friends kids so that us parents could continue tackling unboxing!

Friday night we went to bed very tired and very sore. I got very little sleep as I just could not turn my brain off long enough to sleep. I'm pretty sure I got about two hours of sleep that night. I was feeling all the feels. Had I forgotten something? Did I organize things the best way? Will people even come? Lord, please send a flood of people! Regardless, I woke up Saturday morning pumped up and ready to go! Joey and I started bright and early at 4:30am. We started carrying all of the tables out onto the driveway out front. Luckily, it went much faster than I had thought but only because we had some amazing friends and neighbors that showed up at 5am to help us.

The sale started at 7am and the people came. Oh my word, the people came! I would say for the first 5 hours there were at least 15-20+ people there shopping at one time. I felt like we had a little bit of a consignment sale running! It was so much fun. The whole day I was just in awe. It took a team to make this successful. From the people that donated to the friends that shared it on social media, to the people who were there to help, the friends that came and supported us by buying things and giving, to the many people who donated tables and clothing racks (and our awesome neighbors that let us borrow their very nice pop-up canopy for shade), to my other awesome neighbors that had to look at our completely full garage for months and were so gracious and understanding of all of the commotion happening in the cove due to the floods of people at the sale, to friends that brought us coffee and lunch. There were so many moving parts to make this happen. I do not take a single bit of it for granted. So thankful for our friends, family, and neighbors. One day our sweet little child whoever and where ever they may be will get to read this blog and see these photos and see some of the faces that helped us pull off probably the biggest fundraiser we will ever do. For us, fundraising means working to bring our baby home. This isn't just about raising money. This is working to make this adoption possible. James 1:27 says "Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world". I believe that part about caring for orphans doesn't always mean actually adopting a child. I do not personally believe the Lord calls everyone to do that. But he does say to care for orphans and sometimes that looks like donating items to an adoption fundraising yard sale, or showing up to help and come alongside of us to support us as we move forward to adopt. So thank you to all that helped make this possible. Because of your selflessness this sale was a huge success.

Okay, enough of all that. You guys want the good stuff. The total, am I right? First, I want to tell you what my goal number was. I hesitated to share with many people what that number was because it honestly felt a little unachievable. It felt kind of like "haha yea right you can't make that much at a yard sale".

I prayed for $3,000. I hoped to make $3,000 but thought realistically we would probably make around $2,000.

Our total amount made was $5,504.50

Guys, I can't even believe it. I haven't been able to stop quoting Ephesians 3:20 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us". Immeasurably more, or as the KJV says "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think". $5,504.50 is a whole lot more than I prayed for. It is a whole lot more than I ever dreamed we could make. I have even recounted three times because I kept thinking I made a mistake. You know, before we started this whole process, the fear of being able to afford it was just one of my top fears. I mean it is a lot of money, and I just didn't know if we would be able to pull it off. Not that I ever questioned if it would be worth it, but the reality of international adoption is that it is very expensive and you still have to sign the dotted line saying you will be paying X amount of dollars. If anyone reading this is questioning how you would ever afford an adoption or maybe you're feeling the Lord tug your heart to adopt but the reality of the expense is keeping you from moving forward? Can I just encourage you to say yes to the Lord if you feel Him speaking to you and telling you to adopt. Can I encourage you to trust him fully to equip you for what He is calling you to do. Jehovah-Jireh, He will provide! This yard sale wasn't successful because of us, it was successful because of HIM! He sent the items donated. He sent the helpers. He sent the beautiful weather. He sent the floods of people that purchased and even went above and beyond in their giving. He did that! It was the best day, and yes I am glad it's over. But, boy did I enjoy it! Thank you to every single person that was involved! Enjoy some pictures from the day!