"One person's trash...

is someone else's treasure" was tested like it has never been tested before at our HUGE rummage sale yesterday.  Uh-mazing.

We had been collecting donated items from friends and family, neighbors and coworkers, for weeks leading up to this event.  I was really good at pricing things and organizing items as they came in, until Friday afternoon, when everything EXPLODED!!  We were able to use our church's trailer, from when we were a church without our own building, which we filled nearly to the top.  We also filled the back of a Ford Expedition (all back seats flat)...TWICE!  We also filled the back of our swagger wagon (third seat flat)...TWICE.  We also filled my in-laws swagger wagon (wait a minute...can in-laws have a swagger wagon??)...TWICE.  We also filled the back of a full-size truck...TWICE.  AND, people brought more stuff when they came to shop.  There was SO much stuff! 

The big event was held in the parking lot of my in-law's church (thank you LOV!), which is at a VERY busy intersection of our city - perfect.  We set up 11 large tables, and they were covered, as well as stuff stashed underneath.  We had three king-size quilts laid out with clothes piled one foot high.  We had desks, dining sets, hutches, rocking chairs, recliners, and tons of baby gear.  We also BBQ'd hot dogs and some AMAZING kids from our church put on a car wash.  We were blessed by help from my in-laws and some incredibly supportive friends.

The people who came to the rummage sale is what uh-mazed me the most.  There were coworkers present and coworkers past.  There were friends from high school and friends we have made in the past few months.  There was a lady whose daughter, states away, is in the process of adopting a baby from Ethiopia.  She was stocking up on baby gear for her house.  There were friends that we have not seen for YEARS.  There were people that heard about our sale from other people who know us.  There were friends from our church, there were friends from our children's schools, and there were friends from my in-law's church.  There were grandparents.  There was a man who made a purchase of $5, but gave us $40.  There was a man who was there for two hours and collected $50 worth of treasures.  There was a man who found out my name and used it often to try to get me to go down a couple dollars on everything there, but wanted to make sure that we weren't getting ripped off by someone else.

My favorite story, and the one that happened to bring me to tears on this particular day, was about a woman with blond hair and a pink tunic.  She was looking at a Pier 1ish style chest and my husband asked her to make an offer.  She said, "how about $10?"  It was priced at $20, but we were trying to move things out during what seemed to be a bit of a lull in the day, so my husband accepted her offer and helped her load it into her car.  "Thanks for helping us bring our baby home," he said.  "Huh?" she replied.  "This is a fundraiser.  My wife and I are adopting a baby from Ethiopia, and this rummage sale is to help us raise funds."  She reached into her purse, handed him the other $10, and said "I had no idea.  I never would have talked you down if I knew what it was for," and went to do more shopping, which included the purchase of my great-grandma's antique suitcase - a woman after my own heart.

The money that we made yesterday is enough to pay for one round-trip ticket to Ethiopia via Emirates airline.  What a blessing!  THANK YOU to the friends, family, and strangers who got us one step closer to our baby yesterday.  Thank you to the lady in the pink tunic for helping me realize that there really are good people in this world still and that we are bringing this baby into an environment that is full of love and compassion and concern for the orphans of this world. 

Through every event that we have done (even through a rummage sale), God has put people in our path that have provided confirmation that we are doing the right thing, that we are being obedient to what God is calling us to do, and that people want to partner with us in this mission. 

(I am really upset with myself for not taking more pictures. 

I would have loved to get a picture of the kids doing the car wash,

people enjoying their hot dogs,

the lady in the pink tunic, all of our helpers, etc.)