God Shows Up At Yardsales

Elaine (my wife) and I are in the midst of moving.  We have a contract on our house here and a contract on a house in the community where we will be living next.  We're downsizing, so we've been working on jettisoning much of our stuff.  So for the last two days we've had a yard sale.  I'd say I've been looking forward to it, but I'd be lying.  Dragging all the earmarked stuff out to our carport and driveway in the wee hours of the morning wasn't my idea of a fun-filled holiday weekend.  And this is not to mention the embarrassment we both had at the amount of stuff we'd accumulated in the last several decades.  (Typically over-indulged North Americans, but that's the subject for another post.)

Not being a veteran of many yardsales, I'd have to say that I enjoyed the whole experience much more than I thought I would.  Most all the folks who came by on Friday and today were friendly, gracious, and interesting.  Way beyond that, though, God showed up at our yardsale.  I can't say I anticipated that, though I don't know why I should be surprised by it.  Here's how God did it.

Yesterday a little girl came with her family; a child of maybe three or four.  She was mesmerized by three little decorative ceramic eggs.  A little shy and hesitant, she brought them over to me, saying, "I want these please," using only her bright but tentative eyes to speak.  Elaine had been in the house briefly during this time.  When Elaine came out, as I received payment from a parent or grandparent for the little eggs, the child went immediately over to Elaine and hugged her.  We have no idea why; the little girl didn't know Elaine and Elaine didn't know her.  Sometimes grace shows up as a complete surprise, from little sources.

One of my best friends came by on Friday as well.  He and I sat on a couch on our driveway, (still unsold, by the way!), and talked most of the morning away.  He is one of the many Christ-like companions I have in this area whom I will miss greatly.  Jesus reminds us, as recorded in the Gospel of John, that he calls us his friends.  I experience that through so many people who bless my life.

An older woman stopped by.  Her hands were gnarled and swollen with arthritis.  But she was the most amazing, positive lady.  A grandmother of 17 grandkids, she frequents yard sales to get little gifts for each of them.  We had a few semi-old-school tech items on the tables.  Rather than being intimidated by any of them she was fascinated by them, eagerly asking Elaine questions about them.  She even bought one of them; a hand held back-massage device.  She had never seen one.  Two things impacted me watching Elaine and this sweet lady talk.  Rather than being intimidated by rapid changes around her, this spunky octogenarian still chose to see life as an adventure.  She inspired me to choose to remain hopeful and eager about the future.  In addition, it's always an uncommon blessing to watch my wife interact with older adults.  While our culture tends to dismiss them as non-productive, Elaine consistently sees them as the children of God they are.  The older woman enjoyed talking to Elaine so much that she came back today!

An eighty-three year old man came by whose wife of over five decades died a month ago from complications after a stroke.  He didn't need to buy anything; he just needed to talk to someone.  So we listened for the better part of an hour.  We were ready for however much he needed; lonely is everything it's cracked up to be.  I returned from an errand midday to find a young man talking with Elaine.  He had asked her about the tremor in her voice.  (Elaine has what's called "essential tremor."  It runs in her family.)   He asked how she coped with it, then shared his own burdens.  He had a debilitating accident several years ago.   He's been through a heart-breaking divorce, and he just recently lost his job.  He's a person of faith, but he's struggling to stay hopeful.  Again, we tried to listen and encourage.  I gave him my most recent copy of a daily devotional designed for persons walking in dark valleys - STREAMS IN THE DESERT.  (I highly recommend it!)  We joined hands with him and prayed for him.

So the yard sale really wasn't about downsizing and getting rid of extra stuff.   It was about being humbled by these opportunity to see the real presence of Jesus in others.  I repent of any selfish resistance to doing the sale.  I would have missed The Lord showing up in a timid but loving little girl, in a good friend in Christ, in an older lady whose hands were crippled but whose soul was not, in a man who just misses the love of his life, and in a guy struggling to keep his head above water and to keep his faith intact.

We serve a God who shows up.  I'll see you around the next bend in the river.