Jesus once took two small fish and five loaves of bread, prayed over them, feed over 5,000 people, and had food left over. We had a smaller version of this play out at our house over the weekend.
You may recall that several weeks ago, our kids came to us with a small collection of toys stating they wanted to have a yard sale to help defray the costs of bringing S home. I am grateful that I didn't shoot down their idea like I am so prone to do. If I had, we would have missed a tremendous amount of blessing and watching the Lord work. In addition, untold numbers of other people would also have not had a blessing.
The small collection of toys turned into a massive yard sale. We had two side yards, a front yard, and a driveway filled several rows deep with things to sell. Many of our friends donated things for the express purpose of helping us to raise money in this sale. Some people donated a few things, some donated many. The number of things donated was irrelevant. What was so special to see was how people gave. The final amount of goods to sell was pretty amazing.
The sale was a fantastic success. Though the final total is not yet in, we are just a whisper below $900 in sales...for a yard sale! What a tremendous blessing. We are so grateful.
The story does not end there, however. In addition to the amount of money we were able to raise, a friend of ours was able to take two full van loads of goods to her ministry called Even Trade. This ministry is designed to meet some of the physical needs of the financially poorer members of our city. This ministry gives things away to families in need in return for some variable requirement. For example, for this past month's disbursement, the families taking advantage of the free goods had to enroll their kids in VBS. If they fail to bring their kids, they will not be invited to the next disbursement. This means that they get many of the things they need but also give back in terms of their time or talents. Thus, the small box of toys our kids brought to us not only brought in about $900, they also are directly in the line of helping to bless many other people that we will never even meet. None of that would have happened without their faith.
Oh Lord, please give me faith like that. Please give me the faith of a child. I miss out on so much and others miss out on so much because I am so foolishly "knowledgeable" about things that can and cannot work. Teach me your ways and help me to put faith into action. Thank you for my children who help me to remember.
