Right Side Up

We did it..... Whew! We had our first garage sale. Well, not our first garage sale ever. Our first garage sale since.... well, since God removed the scales from me eyes. And oh my how incredible it was. I was exhausted no doubt, but what a freeing experience. Yes, there are more to come. We made our first pass through the attics, shed and storage. We sold about half of the that. We did a short little sale for four hours on Saturday morning. It's so hot right now we didn't think a whole day was going to get it. I'm thinking the fall would be a much better time : ) I had no idea it would feel so good to get rid of this stuff. I had no idea that we had this much stuff. And there's so much more. I was actually somewhat embarrassed that I had so much that I wasn't using. Isn't it weird that when you're buying it, it doesn't seem like "stuff " does it? But when you're getting rid of it, it feels very much like just "stuff ". I had no idea it would be this easy to let it go. Even Izzy got in on the cleansing : ) She cleaned out her play room for the sale. She was too sweet. She met everyone that came by. She told them she was raising money to go get her sister in China. Then told everyone about her friends in China and that she was going to bring some money to them so they could buy fun toys to play with. Isn't that sweet? Then she asked me if we could just buy the toys here and pack one toy for each child in our suitcase. It's hard to explain to a 5 year old that money is easier to fit in your suitcase that has 44 lb airline restrictions on it. Well, we may have to pack some small goodies for them in our luggage.  I was quite impressed by my mission minded little one. How I wish that I could have "got it" at such a young age.

We had an Izzy's Dream fundraiser this past week at VBS at church. We're still not sure how much was raised because people are still turning in baby bottles. Well, at the end of the week they had their closing program and the director brought Izzy up on stage to talk about Izzy's Dream and explain to the parents how they can help Hidden Treasures Home and I could really see that Izzy was serious about it. She always wants to help the other children at her orphanage. Always. She talks about it all the time. But this time she had this very serious look on her face and I knew right then and there that this was a calling for her. Even at 5 years old. She reminded the other children to fill up their bottles and bring them back so that she could send the money to China. So that we could help them. She was so serious about it. I had not seen that in her yet. There was a determination that was new. I LOVED IT !

I want that kind of determination. To please the Lord. To serve His children. To go where He calls me. I really want that. Who knew that my 5 year old could be my inspiration : )

So..... one garage sale down....... many more to go.

Thanks to you guys that are praying for us to find our way through whatever the Lord is calling us to. It means a lot.

Yes, I finished reading Radical. And well, it was radical all right. Then again when our Savior was here in the flesh He was pretty radical, wasn't He?  I know this is hard stuff. I hear ya girls! I can tell by the lack of comments that it's uncomfortable. I encourage you to read it though. It was eye opening to say the very least. The Lord was already prompting my heart in that direction, but the book just blew it wide open. What's really interesting though is when I was about half way through it I felt like my life was being turned upside down. I really felt like I was in the middle of chaos. I didn't feel chaotic, but everything around me felt chaotic. The world itself just didn't make sense. It felt so out of control. I'm not sure if this will make sense or not. Anyway, I kept reading the book. I was in my bible at a ferocious level. I just kept going. Kept praying. And then it all just clicked into place. And now. Now everything feels calm. Peaceful. Still. God is in control of my life. I know that. I believe that. The world doesn't make any sense. It's not supposed to. I'm not from here (this is where my relatives go " Uh Oh, she's gone off the deep end " )  LOL :) This IS a temporary place for those of us that call on the name of the Lord. And I'm more determined than ever to make an eternal impact while I'm visiting. Our pastor always says that because we know Jesus we have Hope. And not Hope with a question mark. Hope with an exclamation point. HOPE ! I just love that.

You know in the last couple weeks I've come to realize that my life wasn't being turned upside down at all. It was actually being turned right side up.

And the perspective is amazing!