Garage Sale Update

We were discussing how to fund-raise for our move and one of the options was a garage sale. Shane and I have never had a garage sale before and there is a reason for that, we knew they were a lot of work. However, funding our move to Haiti is something we were willing to put the work into. So we put out a message to our family, friends and FB connections that we were accepting donations to sell at our garage sale. The response was amazing! People began to drop things off at our house and we filled our 3 car garage with items for our sale. 

Every morning before we opened the garage sale, Shane and I prayed (and we know many friends were praying with us as well) that God would be present and that this sale would be used to glorify Him. And I believe that it did. We didn't price any of the items so every time a customer came to our garage sale we would say, 

"There are no prices on the items. We are moving our family to Haiti to be long term missionaries. We're taking donations, so if you see something you would like, bring it up to us and tell us what you want to pay for it and its yours." 

This allowed us to tell our story, or rather God's story for our life, to each person that stopped at our house. It was so much fun! 

So...I know everyone is wondering how this garage sale went. Before the sale started Shane and I thought that if we could make about $1000 for the weekend we would consider that a success. The final count for this garage sale, or 'God Sale' as Shane's calling it, was almost $4,000!!! Can you believe it?!? Only God can do something this big, it certainly wasn't us. This is 15% of what we need for our first year down in Haiti and it is SO exciting!

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Ephesians 3:20 

God took all the donations that our friends brought, the time our friends, Shane and I took to set it up, and the people who stopped by and created something ONLY He can do. Something bigger and better than we could ever have imagined. What an awesome God we have! He continually affirms to us that we are on the right path. 

Are we crazy?

It has been an interesting couple of months. When we tell people we are moving our family to Haiti to serve for two years, we can get very different responses. One response is, "Are you (crazy, stupid, irresponsible)? 

We know that they say this not to be mean, but simple because they really don't understand. So it's a chance to educate. I have begin saying, "It really is stupid to move our family to Haiti unless we believe that God is calling us. And we do. We know that this is God's plan for us and we know He can be trusted." 

Another response is, "You are such an inspiration". While this one sounds nicer, it's actually just as challenging. Shane and I never want this to be about us. So our response is, "We are nobodies. We are so honored that God chose us for this journey. Our only part was to make ourselves available. God has a calling for each of his children. He's calling you to something amazing too."  

Honestly, it's a struggle of the heart. We want to make sure our motives are purely centered on serving God. We want to make sure that we hold this loosely and are following, not leading, God. As we practice responding to our many friends and family members, we want to honor God and respect our friends/families intentions. 

The thing is I know he has amazing plans for every one of his children. I know that he has designed each of us to play a part in the body of the church, a part in creating God's kingdom in the here and now. Every believer is called and I am so grateful that we prayed the prayer, "Lord, make us dangerous for you. Take everything we have and use it". 

I'm not sure we could have said this unless we understood who and what God is. If we doubted for a moment His goodness, trustworthiness, omnipotence and omnipresence we never would have been able to move. It would be far too scary. But we do believe, completely. 

This has been my verse this week and it says it all: 

Let me hear of Your unfailing love each morning,for I am trusting You.Show me where to walk,for I give myself to You.

He is so good and He can be trusted. So here we go on an adventure only He could orchestrate well. What an honor!