God at Work - Journal Entry #1

Life: an adventure, a journey with Jesus!
Final Liquidation Plans

Another leg of the journey is complete! We have seen Jesus in new ways during the month of December. He orchestrates the paths we take, our steps. He does, if we let Him. We have many God stories to share. Let me share one with you.

This one began mid-November. We have had several estate sales here at the house in Duluth to liquidate our household items in preparation of relocating to Peru to serve the Lord for a yet-to-be-determined length of time. Sales have been good. Really! However, if you have a pack-rat in your family, or if you are collectors, you will someday realize how much you have that you don’t need. That’s us. Thanksgiving was right around the corner, which means estate sales would be difficult to have every weekend. We were expecting company over the holidays. Our time to commit to the sales was limited. Outdoor sales were becoming more difficult due to the weather. We needed to regroup and go to plan B.

We decided to contact an auctioneer to help us with the liquidation process. We have attended antique and general auctions for years. We knew the kind of auction and auctioneer we wanted. We knew from experience who to call. We always liked the way this man presented himself at an auction, his honesty, his way of doing business. So Don called “Larry”. He actually called him three times before he returned our call. We were discouraged, but when he finally called and made an appointment we were hopeful. The appointment time came – Larry didn’t. Talk about being frustrated. That’s us! We discussed our options and decided to call “Judy” to do an on-site estate sale. Although we felt Larry was more the type of personality we preferred, Judy was known to do a good job and we had attended some of her sales. The appointment was set for her to come and share with us her plan and contract agreement. Again, we were hopeful.

The phone rang one Monday morning, and Joy listened to Larry apologize for missing his appointment. He had travelled to Chicago for Thanksgiving, visited with elderly parents who took sick during their visit and had to delay his return to GA. He didn’t have his appointments and contact phone numbers with him in Chicago. He asked if we would forgive him. Of course Joy said yes. Things like this do happen. Larry asked if he could come by and visit with us to share his plan. A little put out and therefore a little abrupt, (now who needs to apologize) Joy said we would be available the next morning at 9:30 a.m. Larry said he would meet us at our place. Tuesday morning came and so did Larry! Now we were getting somewhere. We exchanged pleasantries, toured the home, and discussed his business plan. He has a staff that will wrap, inventory, and box up items in our presence to be sold during 2-3 auctions in his facility after the holidays. During our conversation, Larry began to share the gospel with us! He handed Joy a little card explaining how to share Christ with someone. The conversation went from antiques and the liquidating process, to sharing our plan to go into full-time ministry in Peru, our relationship with the Lord Jesus, Larry’s faith and his local church. Remember when we said we felt his personality was preferable? Now we know why!

Yes, we met with Judy a few days later. She’s a pleasant lady with a great track record. She offered a totally different plan for selling our items, and it was one that would displace us from our home for 10-14 days and then we would have to return to clean it for the family who is renting our house, after hundreds of potential buyers traipsed through over a period of 5 days or more. Anything we wanted to hold – not sell – should be locked up as she would not be responsible for it. This would definitely be a challenge for us to move out by the 2nd week in January and then return to shampoo what were once off-white carpets in preparation for renters. Fun? Not!

We really believe that this was one step of the journey that God orchestrated on our behalf. We can leave knowing Larry, a Christian businessman, will work with a friend of ours to handle the sale of our antiques and household items. We won’t have to vacate our home early. The cleaning of the house will be more manageable, also a financial savings. We signed a contract with Larry and have never heard back from Judy.