For some reason I can't get garage sales out of my mind. Spring is coming (although you wouldn't think so by looking outside) and that will bring the season of garage sales. But for some reason garage sales are bothering me.
Why do people have garage sales? I think it is mainly for two reasons: 1) to get rid of old stuff and 2) to get more money. Every year you see hundreds of garage sales in my city. Everyone is selling off their old used items and pocketing the cash. The problem I see is why do we feel the need to get more money? Why do we go through all the work of selling off old items, labelling them from $0.25 to $5.00 and then spending an entire weekend selling it off. Then we pocket the extra cash and are so happy because now we can go buy more stuff. It really bugs me when I see garage sales in the richer neighborhoods! Really, do those people need that little extra money!!
I'm sure there are people out there who really need the money they will earn from a garage sale. But in my life I don't seem to know very many needy people. The people I know are pretty well off with good jobs. I really don't think many of them need the small amount of cash they will earn from a garage sale. Oh, sure it would be nice to have a little extra so we could go buy something. But for some reason my heart is being tugged to do something different with all that stuff we would sell at a garage sale...give it away instead.
Recently it was brought to my attention that there are families out there with a lot less than what I have. I'm not talking about the homeless people that are begging or anything. I'm talking about non abusive, loving, single (and two) parent families that struggle to make ends meet. They cannot even afford to buy new clothes for their kids. I'm sure they would love to have a little extra money to spend on necessities for their family.
So what should we do about this? I think rather than have garage sales why not instead try to find someone who can use the items you are selling and give it away instead. Nothing feels better than to give something away knowing that you are helping someone out. I've been on the receiving end of many things: tennis racket, knife, golf clubs, clothes, etc. and it is great to have things given to you. Need some ideas? Selling dishes and other kitchen items: give them to a new refugee family that just moved here and has nothing. Selling old furniture: donate it to a small church youth group or to a family that doesn't have any. Lots of old baby clothes: ask around at churches, etc to find an expecting or new mother who doesn't have a lot and give them to her. Old board games you never play: give them to some young kids. If you feel you don't know anybody you can always donate items to Community Living or the Salvation Army.
So what am I going to do about this? I hate to disappoint everyone but I'm far from perfect. Am I never going to sell anything again? Probably not. But I think I need to do two things. 1) Give away all the items that my wife and I were going to sell after our move in December 2) Get to know more needy people. #1 is easy. #2 is where I will struggle. I like living a safe little life where everyone is doing well, good jobs, decent money, nice houses. But I feel the need to start to get to know some families that are not as well off. I think being able to help a particular family and building a relationship is far better than dropping off all my old clothes and items at the Salvation Army (although that's a great start).
What do you think? Am I off my rocker? Are you having a garage sale this year? I would love to have some discussion on this in the comments.
5 comments:
Wow Sheldon,
From Dilbert to deep-thoughts... great transition! Good stuff, though. What you say is true - especially as Christians we have an opportunity to make a difference in people's lives. I'll pass this on to Kurt and we might re-think our planned spring garage sale. :) Maybe we can co-ordinate with you and Shiela and contact the 'Open Door Society' or something - I have a friend with contacts there... anyway - thanks for the thoughts! I'm sure God is proud of you. :)
just a thought - what about all of the people who shop at garage sales because they can't afford to purchase the items new? If everyone stopped having garage sales, where would these people get items?
And another thought - if you give all your stuff to the Salvation Army, they are going to charge people for it, anyway. It may be going to a better cause than someone's extra pocket cash, but for the people who have to buy the stuff, it's the same deal.
I DO agree with you, though...only whereas you said your pet peeve is the garage sales in RICH neighborhoods, mine is the people who have garage sales EVERY summer, all summer long and try to sell the same junk the whole time (for outrageous prices, as well) - and I do mean JUNK - even the Salvation Army wouldn't want most of it!
I enjoyed your thoughts, your heart definately mirrors the heart of Jesus!
Thanks for the comments Kendall and Matt&Ruth (not sure which one of you posted it).
Matt&Ruth, I think you have a good point. There are people who go to garage sales because they can't afford to buy new and if there are no garage sales then what would they do. I have this sneaking suspicion that garage sales aren't going away (LOL) and they will always exist so that option will always be there. But I guess what I would really like is for us (me) to know our (my) "neighbors" so we (I) can give the items to people who need them and not just to the Salvation Army. I'm guessing there are people out there who cannot even afford to buy from a garage sale. Last night we got new furniture in our place. I now have a couch sitting in my kitchen looking for a new home. It's old, dirty and doesn't have legs. We thought of throwing it out because we figured nobody is going to want a couch as bad as that one. But then we thought about it and realized that we had just used it for 5 years and although we are not rich, compared to a lot of people we are very rich and there must be someone out there that would love to have this couch. (so if you know someone let me know)
So I agree that garage sales play a good role sometimes, but there are lots of people out there that will always have garage sales. As a Christian I feel that if I want to reach my community I could do it more effectively by finding out who needs the items instead of selling them off randomly so we can go for a meal at a restaurant. (I'm a little scared in writing that because now I really need to find someone who needs my couch so I'm not a hypocrite!)
I completely agree. So now the question is, how do we find those people? Do you think going to some of the foundations that deal with the poor is the answer or do you think that God wants to lead us to INDIVIDUALS?
I think going to the foundations that deal with the poor is a great start. They are in touch with lots of people that need help and depending on the exact situation, that could lead to an individual relationship. But in order that a relationship is being built, I would hope that God would lead us to certain individuals. It's kind of like Christmas hampers. It's great to go help with Denny Carr's Christmas Hampers (not sure of the exact name) and help pack them up as they give 100's of them away. But there is something a whole lot more special when you find one family that you personally know could really use a Christmas hamper and you personally put it together just for them and see the happiness it brings them.
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