The last two weekends we hosted an "Adoption Fundraiser Yard Sale" to try to be ready for our first payment to the adoption agency. Yard sales are always interesting; you tend to see folks who are frugal, looking for gems to re-purpose, or searching for specific things (like the guy who showed up to ask if we wanted to sell our lawn mower). "Yardies" usually show up at the crack of dawn, and based on past experiences, try to bargain down a $50 sweater marked as $1 to a dime. With this in mind, I armed myself with lots of change and had a little self-talk. You've got this. $1 means a dollar! Don't look at their cute kids as they play with the toys they want. Don't give away things just because you think someone's dog is cute! Stay focused. No bargaining; it's for baby!
I went through every nook and cranny of our house to get rid of things we no longer wanted and even things we still did want. Friends dropped off items for the sale. We handed out flyers to neighbors the day before inviting them to stop by for pastries and had high hopes. After weeks of cancelling due to weather and a cold, it was time to fund our adoption one 25 cent sale at a time!
I'll admit, my hope was to raise funds those days, but I was given a much greater gift at these yard sales: I was touched by the kindness of strangers. Many of them.
The yard sales weren't busy; we live on a cul-de-sac, and it was a holiday weekend and then FREEEEEZING (according to this SoCal transplant). The thing is, that's what made them so great!
I got to meet people who have been personally touched by adoption, other moms who have battled infertility, and a Vietnam Vet who made me cry with his personal story.
We got to get to know some neighbors we had only met in passing since moving here a year ago. I so enjoyed their personalities and getting to know them-- so much that we've got a pot luck brewing. Some neighbors hung out for a long time in the afternoon and others brought items down to add to the cause. I could not get a single one to eat a homemade pastry or bagel; it ends up that they didn't need the bribe to come and visit.
The best part is we got to see true acts of kindness that you don't typically see at a yard sale.
A friend who came to lend me a table, stayed almost all day. As I began to weaken my resolve to stick to certain prices, she would literally stand behind me and say, "Cindy, $10 for all that? It's worth at least $20!" She made me laugh and drew people's attention to WHY we were having a yard sale. She also filled her car with things for her new house with only one request... that I help her decorate.
A man wanted to buy a lot of our CD's. I counted, lowered the price and said, "How about $20 for all of it?" He smiled at me and said, "How about $25?" That never happens! But it happened at least a dozen times during our yard sale; people were insisting that we take more money.
A woman showed up who drove from another city when she saw that it was for an adoption. She shared that she was a social worker who works with families adopting, and she just felt she should come and support, knowing what it costs. The next weekend, she showed up again. She said, "I saw it was you again, so I'm back!" In fact, the second weekend, we had at least 20 people who came back again saying they just wanted to support us. Some brought things to add to the yard sale, some brought more friends, and 2 brought us gifts-- a frame and a book about adoption.
One teacher drove an hour and 40 minutes to buy almost all of my teaching supplies. She later texted me with such kind words.
I met another California girl in the area that was so darling, we ended up becoming Facebook friends. Three women (sisters, one visiting from Guatemala) helped me pull things out of my garage the last morning, and we talked so much about what it's like to grow up with sisters that when they left, we were hugging. I can't think of them without smiling.
Two days after the yard sale, a neighbor I'd never met knocked on our door. She handed me an envelope and we talked for 1/2 hour about her own adoption journey involving trips to Korea. She said adoption is a calling, and as she spoke the words, I felt them in my heart.
In the end, I was reminded of something very important as we look to raise another child in this crazy world. There are good, kind people everywhere. Had the yard sale been busy, I would have missed the opportunity to get to know such wonderful people. I know God intended for each of those people to walk into my life for a reason.
The most recent Cinderella movie has a great quote: "Where there is kindness, there is goodness, and where there is goodness, there is magic." Isn't it funny how in the most humble of circumstances (selling your clothes to raise money) we can find the things that are most valuable? Witnessing the kindness of others -- the goodness-- WAS magical. It's a reminder that our children are living in a world where kindness shines when we take the time to see the light in each other.
