Garage Sale Stuff

All garage sales are not created equal. In Texas, they are big, with lots of stuff, in Mississippi there are treasures to be found, but in Colorado, they tend to be small since people are generally not big collectors of things due to space limitations. Garage sales, estate sales, junk sales, or yard sales, no matter what you call them, they usually have certain elements in common. You can almost always find some kind of fitness items (which were bought at another garage sale when you thought you were going to get fit), vases from the Valentine, birthday and anniversary flowers from the past year (which no one else needs either) and wedding gifts that you didn’t want or need in the first place (no matter whether you got married last year or have celebrated decades of marriage).

Now I happen to love garage sales; not going to them, but hosting them. If I sound a bit weird, let me explain, it is not because I love to clean out closets and get organized, but because I enjoy the people who come to them. First you have the professionals, who spend every weekend combing through items that they do not need, but think they might know someone who does. You also have the neighbors who like to come and see if you are getting rid of something really good or they just want to check out what you have. Then there are those who are really in need of bargains because they don’t have unlimited resources and can get things that are like new for next to nothing. But my favorites are still another category, the ones who might go out for weeks and not buy anything, but just enjoy being out and about and might just find the deal of the century. Yet one more, might be the hoarders like the people you see on TV who can hardly walk in their houses because of all the things they have purchased at garage sales.

Since I had a sale over the weekend, I was able to meet many people. There were engaging people both attending and participating in the multi-family sale, but the one person who stood out as my most unusual customer on Saturday was a young man who had just graduated from high school. There were several qualities that made him unique; first of all he was with his mother and what other kid do you know that age that would be out on a Saturday morning with his mother? His appearance was also a hint that he was not your ordinary kid—he had that edgy look, with funky haircut, piercings, and then there was the way he was dressed. My final clue to his individualism was his intense observation at a painting that I was selling. Since I could see his interest, I struck up a conversation with him. He was critiquing the skill of the artist and seemed to have a good eye for art, so I inquired about his artistic ability and he confided that oil painting was his passion. If I had judged this young man by society’s standards, I would have missed out on the highlight of my day. Seeing this young man that God uniquely created was a good reminder for me not to judge people by their outward appearances, but by their hearts.

1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

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