Rummage Sale Blessings

This past weekend I had a rummage sale to get rid of a lot of junk that had been accumulating over the past six years. I have one about once a year and after its over with I tell myself that it is not worth it and next year I'll just drop it off at the Salvation Army. Since we had so much "stuff" this time I decided that it would probably be worth my while to have one last rummage sale. I have learned from that past rummage sales that the clothes did not sell well. So this time I decided that I would just give away all the clothes. It turned out to be a wonderful success and I have come away with not only a little extra change in my pocket but with a full heart. I'll share with you the blessings that I received.
I started putting out my rummage stuff on Friday and had a really good crowd throughout the day. I had such a fun time giving away the clothes and enjoyed seeing people stuff their bags and not having to worry about how much they were spending.
A little later in the day a very fragile petite old lady showed up to the sale. She asked me if I had any books and I pointed her to the area where I had put the books. I told her that I didn't have many but one caught her eye and she asked me how much for that particular book. She looked like she had a heavy heart and I just couldn't take even a dime from her. With a smile I told her the book was about a missionary and that she could have it. Tears started streaming down her face and she said "you don't know what this means to me." She further explained that she had just lost one of her dear friends that was ninety-eight years old and she just couldn't get over the loss. I gently hugged her and told her that we would pray for her.
Later in the evening a family showed up which included a grandma, a ten year old girl, 13 year old boy, and their mother. They were a very sweet and gracious group of people and were very excited about the free clothes. Even though there were no clothes in the little girl size she joyously bagged up clothes for her family. I explained to them that if they would wait a few minutes that my friend would soon be bringing a load of rummage stuff including more free clothing. Within a few minutes the new load of rummage stuff arrived and they acted like it was Christmas day. While there the little girl warmed up to me and was starving for attention. She would ask me a million questions just to have a conversation. She even asked if I would like to be her step-mother. I wasn't sure how to respond but I hugged her and said sure. This little girl had a heart of gold and everything that she wanted to buy was for someone else. She grabbed a purse that cost twenty-five cents and asked me to hide it and wrap in a Walmart bag. I did as she asked and then she immediately gave it to her grandmother and said "Look what I bought for you!" I asked the girl if she went to church anywhere and she said that she did sometimes. I told her that our church had a wonderful program on Wednesday nights for her age. She told me "OK, I will be at your house Wednesday night and you can take me to church." I exclaimed to her that was fine but that the church was just right down the road across from Walker's Dairy Bar. She then said "Oh great! I will be there. If I am not there then that means I am sick." After buying almost everything that my friend had just brought over they loaded up their goodies and with big smiles said "we will see you Wednesday."
Almost everything had been sold on Friday and I didn't have much for Saturday. My friend, Tiffany, said she would come help me sell off the rest of the "junk." We didn't have nearly the crowd as Friday and was ready to get rid of the stuff. So we pretty much gave away the rest of it. A Hispanic family showed up around mid-morning and there was an eight year old boy. His eyes got big when he saw the toys and we told him that there was a certain box that contained free toys. He asked his mom if he could have the toys and we chimed in and told him he could have the whole box. He started jumping up and down and told his mom was we said. I don't think she was as excited about it as he was but she did tell us thank you. We loaded her down with clothes, toys, and anything else that we could fit into her car.
One of the last customers of the day told us her story about having five kids dropped off at her house. She has had them over a year now and has done so much for these kids. She already had taken in one child and now has a total of six kids under the age of six. She does have some health problems but takes great care of them. Her story touched my heart so much. It was amazing to hear of someone who has given up so much to help touch the lives of these little ones. She gets no financial or physical gains for what she does. What she does get is six little faces looking up at her, calling her mama and telling her that they love her. I thank God for people like her. She is such an example of selflessness.
I tell you these stories to share with you what blessings you can receive when you just give a little. It didn't cost me anything to give what little stuff I had to these people but oh what blessings I received in return. Everyone of these people now have a special place in my heart and I am so thankful for them. A lot of times we go into something thinking that we are going to help them, but we find out that those people have helped us more.