God was Here

As I sat at the checkout line in the rented church hall on Friday, I saw face after face of homeschooling families.  Mothers, fathers, grandparents, teens. Some of the faces were tiny babies strapped to their mama’s backs or bellies, peering out from their cocoon of warmth or eyes closed in sweet slumber.  Regardless of their age or family dynamic, most had come to the Used Curriculum Sale hosted by my homeschool group for one purpose: to buy much-needed items at extremely low prices so that families could continue educating their children at home.  Pure and simple.

Here was I, side-by-side with my daughter working at one of the checkout stands, ringing up purchases of used homeschool curriculum for shoppers.  Staring solely at codes and numbers and index cards of information for over 2.5 hours would have been a monotonous and tiresome way to spend a Friday morning.  But this was not the case as we had the opportunity to connect with each person and family who came to our table.  We greeted customers with smiles and words of welcome, and they blessed us right back with encouraging words and sharing a little of their own stories.

Most were anecdotes by shoppers who were thrilled to find a certain book or product at a price they could afford.  Some related how far they had traveled or who was at home watching their kids.  But soon after the last customer left the building, we all heard a story that tugged at our heartstrings…and brought us all together as one body for Christ.

Melony, a Circle volunteer, shared the story of Nancy who came through Melony’s checkout stand.  Joined by 3 of her 10 children, Nancy drove the farthest of anyone who came to the UCS.  How far, you ask?  All the way from Kentucky!  At this point you might be thinking this woman: (a) must really love curriculum sales; (b) needs a break from the rest of her kids; or (c) wanted to feel the intense heat of Florida in June. If you picked any of those choices you would be wrong.  

You see, earlier this year Nancy’s family of 12 lost all of their possessions in a house fire.  In homeschooling terms, this means every single math textbook, drawing pencil, piece of sheet music, writing journal, computer disc, and microscope is gone.  In the view of a mother’s heart, that meant every craft project, history diorama, preschool handprint in paint, and family photo was taken away. Vanished into a pile of ashes.  But God was there and saw that no one was injured, though I imagine Nancy shed many tears of grief in the hours and days that followed.  

This is why Nancy drove the long distance from Kentucky to shop at the UCS here in Orlando. For one purpose: to replace as much lost curriculum as she could.  Having lived in Orlando years before, Nancy knew about Circle’s UCS and hoped she would be able to find some of what she had lost in the fire.  Little did she know she would discover so much more.

Because after Nancy’s story was shared with everyone, God moved the hearts of the UCS volunteers, who moved to make pieces rapidly fall into place.  Before we knew it her information was found, she was called and invited to come back, and a collection had been taken unbeknownst to her.  Soon after, the volunteers and our group's leader Linda Werner greeted Nancy who returned to find $400 in cash and tables of free curricula available for her to take.  Can you imagine how Nancy felt?  She had lost everything, had traveled far from home probably not expecting too much, but found the love of Christ waiting for her here in this rented hall amidst strangers.  In her surprise, I feel certain the tears that flowed this day were those of gratefulness.  Beauty had come from ashes.  And above all, I am assured of one thing:  God was here.  

“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted… to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.”   Isaiah 61:1-3

And this leads me to praise God for all of my blessings...

~ good fellowship with others educating their kids

~ Mom enduring Parkinson's with grace and patience

~ finding a needed chemistry textbook for my rising sophomore

~ my sweet 3yo niece thriving with a hole in her heart while awaiting an upcoming procedure

~ being vertigo-free for 4 months

~ TechDaddy's creative fire in all things digital

~ my church's strong mission-minded status

~ safe return of the Compassion bloggers from the Philippines

~ school being done {well, except for Spanish}

~ the space shuttle program at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, and getting to watch launches from our front yard

~ my adopted daughter in India and adopted son in Haiti

~ connecting with local folks through OCC-Samaritan's Purse

Are you counting your blessings? For more words of gratefulness visit Ann.