Yard Sale Wrap Up

Over 10 truck loads of items were donated

It was an incredible sight to see. Over 500 people came to shop through the items donated by over 30 families. The weeks of hard work and prayers paid off with what we considered to be a very successful yard sale! While the financial donations were incredible (thank you!), we loved seeing your smiling faces most of all. Old friends from high school, strangers who saw the event posted on facebook, volunteers from church, and family members all came out to support us. It was overwhelming to hear well wishes every time an item was sold and see our friends and family talking about our adoption journey with shoppers.

Used the nursery to store overflow!

It was a huge event to prepare for and our volunteers couldn't have been better! They helped us load and unload several trucks, set up tables, organize items, and tear it all down in the end. They worked their bottoms off and were paid with bug bites, bruises, sunburns, and sore muscles. When we became overwhelmed, they took control and made it happen. We could never have done something like this by ourselves and would never have wanted to do it with anyone other than them!

God moved in our lives this week. Every donation that we picked up had a story to go with it. Every time I would get online there was a new message with God written all over it. We'd never be able to list all of the incredible moments that came from our yard sale experience, but we did want to share just a few:

K and I working hard on setting things up

- A friend of Derek's came by with his mom and although he didn't find anything to purchase (I guess baby clothes and glassware wasn't his thing), he made a financial donation. But it was what he said that made me fall apart. "I'm just a college student without a job, but I saved up for weeks so that I could make this donation. I was so excited when I found out Derek was going to be a dad and I want to do my part to make sure he has a child."

- A stranger walked up to me and said, "I didn't find anything to buy but wanted to support you anyway", handing me a wad of cash.

-After adding up a large order of items, I told the lady her total and she told me it wasn't enough. She paid double.

First few hours of set up

- I was told of 3 young girls (2 of which were adopted themselves) who had heard about our adoption story and wanted to help out. They sat outside in the rain on a Saturday morning and sold lemonade. They raised $19.96 and were so proud when they handed us the envelope full of change that they had covered in hearts.

- A police man drove up the street and my heart sank. I thought for sure that we were going to get in trouble for having so many cars parked on the street, but he ended up just coming out to support us and shop with his family. He said that the word had been passed around church and he wouldn't miss this opportunity.

Our friend C with his new toy

- The day before the sale, a young man sent me a message saying that this yard sale was all anyone in his area was talking about and that someone had even posted it on the tv screens at IUS.

- There were countless times that a shopper would ask me for prices and when we came to a total it was the exact amount of money they had. They all wanted to know how I did it. I think God was just showing off.

Preparing the yard for the big day!

 The amount we raised put us close to the half way point! God is continuing to open doors as we prepare for our child to come home!