Saturday, September 3, 2011

Onion Days...An Onion?

I'm sitting here in my lovely little booth at Onion Days in Payson. What an incredibly BEAUTIFUL day!! The temperature is literally perfect in the shade and I actually have time to sit down and write a blog post.
It's not easy for me to have, find or make time to write because, well, I homeschool six children on a little farm and the words "leisure time", "spare time", "quiet time" and any other adjective that can be used to describe time that is anything other than "full" or "busy" are just not included in my vocabulary.

So, here I sit in the loveliness of the oncoming fall and I have plenty of time to sit, think and type. The funny thing is...I don't want the time to do it. The only reason I have it is because nobody is here...no children, no dishes to do, no animals to care for...and no customers. *sigh* We seem to be on the wrong side of the street. The realty chant "location, location, location!" is ringing in my head. I think I may have given away more stuff to cute children who were begging their parents for a giant Pixy Stix or a cool Ring Pop than I have sold today.

So I have to wonder...will Onion Days turn out to be an onion??

Oh, I have had wonderful friends stop by...friends who unfailingly come to every single fund raising activity we've had and always seem to find money to buy something. And other friends whom we know through our parents came by to cheer us on and get treats for the grandkids.

Then, there was a group of three teenagers (whom I've never seen before) that came up and handed me three dollars...I offered for them to take some junk food in exchange, but they refused. "We just want to give this to you," they said.

Another friend, with pregnant belly and four children in tow, came with limited funds and supported us by buying some of our soap.

"Heidi" came by, too. She went out of her way to cross the street to our booth because she saw our "Adoption Fund Raiser" sign. Her husband was adopted from Korea and others in her family were adopted, too. It meant something to her to support us...and she gave us all she had left after a day at the celebration.

Oh, and some lovely ladies just dropped by and handed over $10 for the cause, leaving these items to be "bought my someone else". What selfless gestures so many people have given me today.

Onion Days isn't over...it's only 3:30 in the afternoon and we still have Labor Day left. There still may be hope that we will make a little more with this event.

While I've been sitting here fixing my signs and straightening my displays just to have something to do, I've had time to think. Time to think about that fact that all of this is an act of faith. I have made a pact with myself that I will take every fund raising opportunity that comes in my path. I am bound and determined to give the Lord ample opportunity to bridge the cavernous gap we face. He is all-powerful and fully capable of giving us all the money we need if He wanted to do that. But, as my husband said, He will test our fortitude, our dedication, our endurance.

So, it doesn't really matter if we bring in a lot of money with this event. In the big picture, we're proving to the Lord that we will do what it takes, we will do whatever is necessary, we will work so He can work in our lives. A wise man once said, "People die in bed and so does ambition."

So Onion Days, no matter what happens from this moment on, is not and can never be "an onion". We're here and the Lord is in charge.

With that, I will go back to enjoying the lovely weather and the quiet, leisure, spare time I have been blessed with today. And I might just sneak a cookie, too. (Shhh...don't tell my kids!)

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