so now I have been gleefully checking my mailbox and doing the happy dance every time I receive a blue envelope:) as the stack is growing I feel just an overwhelming feeling of love and support and connectivity to everyone...it also makes it very real!  As soon as one envelope came in, my commitment was not just to myself, but to my family and friends who are supporting me on this journey! hhhmmm...I see where this is going!...Another way that our group had raised money for missions before was a garage sale, so in my neighborhood we are permitted 2 community garage sales per year and they were  scheduled for the first weekends in April...perfect!  So I scheduled for both, the first would be a practice run to get the bugs out and then the following weekend all the families in my bible study group brought items to donate...My parents brought furniture that was virtually brand new, my brother and his wife donated items, my parents friends donated 3 bikes and my realtor(i am downsizing!) donated a great set of speakers! many people were dropping by items all week and it was crazy wonderful! so equipped with lots of coffee, bagels and a small group that is just utterly amazing, we sold items big and small all day!  It was a great time and for all of us the bonus was that we got a little spring cleaning done too! We sold our little hearts out and by the days end we had made 883.43 towards the mission.  I was literally exhausted but also sooooo excited because I knew we had a group meeting the next night and I couldn't wait to share the good news:)
deborah of africa