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In my small-town community there is a group of people who has been meeting together for 150 years. The current group—and their ancestors before them—believe in the importance of being neighborly, in the biblical sense — and in the Southern sense as well.
As this post publishes, I’ll be blessed to be part of that group today as the church I attend holds its 24th annual Yard Sale for Missions. Renaissance Man and I preparing and serving lunch at the Catfish Kitchen, but that’s off-topic. 🙂
This group of people has been my church family for the past three years. We’re a small congregation, but (while we may run the gamut of theological interpretation) we all hold dear the importance of reaching beyond ourselves.
And so today our church yard will be overflowing with people coming downtown for a big community event. They’ll stop by our sale. The entire proceeds of their purchases will go to support missions, both globally and locally.
At the end of the day, we’ll hold each other up as we put away our tables and tents, boxes and supplies. We’ll all be exhausted . . .
We’ll hold tight to the knowledge that we’re making a difference in the lives of our neighbors. That we’re holding them close in our thoughts, prayers, and deeds.
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Behind the scenes . . .
The Yard Sale for Missions includes “the usual” yard sale items (housewares, electronics, furniture, craft supplies, books, toys, clothing), but discerning buyers come to check out the “finer things” (vintage linens, dishes, jewelry) and silent auction baskets. And then there’s a huge group of people who come to make purchases at the Apple Chapel (caramel apples, apple nachos, apple hand pies, apple cider) and the Sweet Shack (cakes, pies, caramel popcorn, “over the top” Rice Krispie treats, cookies…).
The sweets alone take a full week of evening preparations—and an entire Friday to finish packaging and prettying them all up. For those of us who work on that, it’s a great time for building friendships—and picking up some new recipes!
After the event, I’ll update this post with actual pics from today. Until then, here are a few previews from the week so far.
The Catfish Kitchen will make its debut. Renaissance Man and I (and my parents while visiting recently!) built this counter for selling lunches. YUM!
See you soon! Until then, have a great Saturday. If you’re anywhere in the vicinity of Jefferson City, TN, come on down!
AFTERNOON UPDATE:
My feet hurt and I have a headache — but the 24th Annual Yard Sale for Missions was another huge success! Totals are still coming in, but already over $20,000 was raised for missions. This year’s recipients are our local Boys & Girls Club AND Helping Hands, Healing Hearts Ministries in the Philippines.
I love these old store-inspired counters!
MADE: 100 caramel apples . . . SOLD: 100 caramel apples (and dozens of apple hand pies, apple nachos, apple cider)
Word quickly spread from the church yard to the downtown festival, and the line at the Catfish Kitchen was long! We planned for approximately 100 lunches (and 2 hours of selling) — but stopped selling over 2 hours and 150 lunches later. Nice!
What an extravaganza for Missions. Can’t wait to hear the results.