Why was Saturday so FABULOUS? The answer might surprise you. It did me.
Back in September of 2021, a young woman from Virginia reached out to me via Facebook (initially) to network regarding art and online sales and marketing. Thinking that I was highly successful because of my 10,000+ followers and my sales on etsy, she thought that I might have valuable information to share regarding how to make a go at it in the online art world.
She had read that my husband had been an ordained pastor years ago and that during my marriage to him had been in full time ministry in differing capacities and hoped that I might be able to provide some insight into what it was like to be the wife of a man called to fulltime ministry.
How sweet is that?
I was able to provide both encouragement, personal counsel; and, a great deal of online resources for this young woman and had kept her in my thoughts and prayers over the past year. Although we kept in touch (on and off) regarding the “art business” we had never really talked any further about her personal life.
Fast forward to Saturday.
I had worked so hard to make this event happen. Michael and I got up before the crack of dawn and went to work setting up everything which included hanging signs and figuring out the best way to display all the larger framed photo art images. Everything was frozen-over; including us; and, we were exhausted as early as 8:00 am. We had been carrying so many items up and down the inclined driveway in our attempt to best display everything to the people arriving for the sale.
We made the mistake of hanging the signs first—thinking that if we got too busy setting up we might not get the signs out in time to catch the early “yard sale traffic”. People started coming by before we had anything out to sale! My husband would walk out to the street and tell the people that we opened at 9:00 am as I was frantically trying to get everything out so that we would not lose the early arrivers.
Then it happened!
Someone else pulled up while I was still trying to finish and being a “task-oriented person” I was highly stressed on top of being highly exhausted! My husband went out to the street to greet them. To my dismay, not only did he not keep them away until I was ready for customers, he was walking up the driveway towards me with them at his side.
“Hey Honey!”, he shouted out, “There is someone here that drove all the way from Virginia to not only meet you but to also see “The Wood’s Secret Garden”!
As I glanced down the driveway, I instantly knew it was Haley! I recognized her from her profile picture. I was beside myself! I was stunned trying to process it all. And not only Haley; but, hand-in-hand with her new husband—the man she had messaged me about over a year ago! Turns out that they had driven over an hour just to come to my event and to visit with us.
Needless to say, I was moved to tears and immediately ran out to greet them.
Somethings are so much more important and meaningful than worrying about who, or how many, would come out to purchase your handiwork. Although I had labored for an entire year to produce items that others could enjoy in their own homes or gift to others; all of a sudden none of that mattered at all!
We spent the rest of the day, sitting in a little circle, bundled up outside, drinking tea and coffee, and rejoicing in our shared love for the Lord, as we got to know one another. We discovered that Haley had lived in Christiansburg, VA where my niece from California currently lives and that Haley and Hayden had been married in an assisted living facility as were Michael and I, over twelve years ago. Those were just a few of the things we had in common.
That delightful blessing lasted the entire day - did I mention we even got to have pizza?
And then, to top that off, at the end of the day (when we were ready to close down for the day) up pops another “Friend I had never met” along with her mom. They had been following me on Facebook and her mom was especially hoping to get a picture of “Crump and Evanderfield” because as her mother said, “I have fallen in love with Crump”. We had such a fabulous time talking about all the things we have in common and I learned that she had known three of the previous owners of the home we live in now. “Crump” even made an appearance in the backyard while they were here.
It was a Glorious Day, in so many ways! Thanking the Lord for the way in which He "flips the script".
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