Garage Sales - Doyll Andrews

Doyll Andrews' Blog

I loathe garage sales! I hated being dragged to them as a kid and as an adult. (Still dealing with the emotional baggage of my Grandmother having me try on clothes in the middle of a driveway). I don't like having them. Tracy can attest that the quickest way to sour my mood is to say it's time to have a garage sale. There seems to be days of work involved in hosting for the mere hours of the actual event. Inevitably, the male ends up being a pack horse dragging out tables and boxes from the nether regions of one's home. Also, dragging out that 80 lb. crib to set it up again for the sale, something that hadn't been done since your six year old was two. Let's not forget the scavenger hunt to place the signage in the pristine spot.

The bargaining over nickels and dimes quickly becomes intolerable and drains on your resolve in showing your Christian love to your neighbor. ("Fine, I'll take a dollar for the crystal candle holder as long as you leave, too!"). As you can see, I have a wealth of reasons for my feelings about garage sales. But a garage sale taught me something about God's love. A few years back my mother-in-law had joined the church triumphant. She had lived with us those last few years and had acquired a significant amount of stuff. The family decided to have a garage sale. (Imagine my joy.)

While sorting through her things we came across her wig. Some perspective about this wig: my mother-in-law had the most beautiful white hair. Most women were jealous of her hair. Her problem was that it was thinning faster in her mind than in others. Her solution was to buy an incomparable wig to her beautiful white hair. The wig was so out of place that my children did not like it on her, and it scared my youngest. So, the wig soon found the bottom of her closet to be discovered by the family getting ready to have a garage sale. It had become pretty ratty and discussion erupted on what to do with it. It was decided that it would be put out and see if could be sold. My bet was that no one would want the ratty thing and it would be finding my garbage can by the end of the day.

As the garage sale progressed I saw a middle school aged girl sorting through things on our tables. She stopped and instantly grabbed at the ratty wig on our sales table. A glimmer of a smile crept across her face and she turned to the adult she was with and whispered something to the person. She quickly came to our cashier and asked if we were selling the wig and could she buy it. We nodded "yes," and she happily pulled out her hard earned money and bought that ratty thing. As she left, she had a spring in her step admiring her treasure.

It occurred to me that action was an analogy to God's love. Through sin, we become the ratty unwanted wig. God, through his son, is that happy little girl admiring her treasure. Grace makes us His treasure and our savior paid with his life to reclaim us as that treasure. Jesus assures us that heaven rejoices like that little girl when a person is saved. We are wanted and the price for us is happily paid by our savior. I thank the Lord every day for this grace that I do not deserve.

When you think that you are destined for the garbage can, God comes in and claims us as His. That's good news to be shared. As for garage sales, I will always complain about them; however, I will not argue with the results. (Yes, Tracy, you were right!)

God Bless,

Doyll