Count your many blessings, name them one by one...if you can

God is so good! We can't begin to describe the overwhelming gratefulness we feel to Him as we experience the kindness and generosity of friends and complete strangers as they have donated to our upcoming yard sale. And items keep coming in! Just last night we unloaded 2 truck loads and 2 car loads and we have other pickups scheduled throughout the next few days. Wow!

We've learned a few things while preparing for the big day (which is this Saturday, if you forgot).

First is that God hears and answers prayers (1 John 5:14-15). We took a step of faith when we started the adoption process, knowing that we didn't have all of the money we would need to make it happen. But we knew that if God was in it, He would provide. As that's been our prayer, God has proven Himself able and willing to give us what we need, item by item.

Second is that God exceeds our expectations (Ephesians 3:20). We just wanted to do the best we could to ask around for donations, but God has shown us that He wants to do more than "our" best. He has filled our garage(s), our spare room, our den, and our hearts with far beyond what we imagined. Now we are praying He will help us in the same way to sell all of this, because it is becoming a little crowded around here :)

Lastly is that we need to be willing to give back, selflessly, what others have given to us. Being the recipient of such an outpouring of generosity is humbling and we've had to ask ourselves many times if we are as willing to give of ourselves as others are. The moment that was the most striking was when a complete stranger called us in response to a flyer we had posted in a local shop. When we showed up, we found that she had more than a few boxes. She had a garage full of things that she wanted to give us which barely fit in our truck, and to top it all off she met us with a small bag containing a new baby blanket that she had just recently crocheted us. We didn't know her, but we'll never forget her.

1 Samuel 12:24 admonishes us to "fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you." Great things He has definitely done for us.

And in case we haven't said it clear enough, thank you to all of you who have donated items, money, time, and prayers to help us. We are humbled and blessed!