It's funny how you think you understand a concept of something, and then God does something that shows you maybe you don't have a clue. It's neat, too, when you can see what it is God might be doing behind the scenes in your life and in your heart .

Today, the youth who are going on the missions trip to Guatemala had our second yard sale to raise money for the trip. This past week has been absolutely hectic trying to get ready. After our first yard sale, we had a lot of stuff left over, but not enough to have another sale with just that--we needed more stuff. So, in an attempt to gather enough donations, Rachel called through the entire church directory asking for donations of their old junk, and word spread fast. There were plenty of people calling Rachel back asking us to pick their stuff up, and even more were bypassing us completely and taking their stuff straight to Ms. Mary's house where we had the sale. This was all within the past week and a half or so, though. Before then, it looked as though we wouldn't have enough stuff, and that the second sale would be a flop. I spent tons of time praying about this, asking that God would bless our efforts, and that he would provide us with the stuff to sell and the people to buy, and I knew God was going to give us far more than the $900 from last time. Because of this, I was not concerned very much with the looks of things leading into the sale. I trusted that God would follow through, and simply continued to do my best to get things ready.

I am no amature at holding yard sales. My mom has been doing them my entire life, so I've picked up quite a few things from her. However, our sale today was hands down one of the most interesting ones I have ever experienced. From the time we started setting up, we were swamped with people! By about 9:00 AM, we had witnessed a screaming (apparently dissatisfied) customer and a woman peeing behind a truck in Ms. Mary's yard, but we had made $550! Later in the afternoon, we were all witnesses of a hit and run, but no one was hurt. Two people left our sale and backed into a parked pickup across the street, then took off. The owner of the truck didn't even know! We called the sherriff's office for him and reported it, because although we didn't get a plate number, we had a description of the vehicle and the people. Whether or not they eventually get caught doesn't matter. As long as the guy's insurance covers the damage.

In all, our final amount was $1443.04!! Praise God! That is so exciting! I told my friend that while I am completely amazed by what God has done for us, I'm not shocked at all because like I said before, I KNEW without a doubt that God would bless us far beyond what we raised the last time.

Ahh, it's great. I love I have God to live for.