The Yardsale Queens

‘What's the matter with the clothes I'm wearing?
Can't you tell that your tie's too wide?
Maybe I should buy some old tab collars?
Welcome back to the age of jive.
Where have you been hidin' out lately, honey?
You can't dress trashy till you spend a lot of money..."

(‘Still Rock and Roll to Me’ from the 1980 album ‘Glass Houses’ by Billy Joel)

   There was a time in recent history,

                                       a time.. when it wasn't so much about 'the money'.

a time where three women would gather at the chosen meeting place…early in the morning…

                              joyful in the moment....

                                                 knowing they were once again preparing to hit the streets

   in search of the lost....
                       
                      the broken....
                                          the abandon....

                                                             !the good deal!


                They were 'The Yard Sale Queens' - my mom and her two sisters.

  They saw the value in what other people discarded..but for a few pennies.

They found great joy ( I mean these chicks were really happy about this!!)  going from home to home..

               seeing the beauty,

  

                             the usefulness...
                                                       items that were just plain valuable...treasures!!

              They just needed some t.l.c.

                a little cleaning...

maybe a couple of parts...

                                                      an investment of their time.

__

 My mom has since gone Home, along with her two sisters, to our Father..

                And I can only imagine the conversation…

                                                                                the laughter.. that is going on this very moment.

As my wife and I go through her 'treasure chest', in cleaning out her house ,

         it has given me a perspective

                                               that I can choose

                                                                           or not

                                                                                          to believe. 
   

 It is that the 'Queens' weren't about things that were 'done'

                                                                             

                                                  Things that were ‘ready to go’.

Yeah, its true..

                   they didn't have much money,

 but

            I believe their hearts knew,

that money wasn't where True Joy lives.   
 

                         It was about these ‘things’ cast aside by others...

                                                       as broken....

                                                             hopeless..

                                                                  

                                                                    that were still useful.

                                                                                That could be restored.

     It's about some gals that received more,

        by investing a little bit of  the time they were given

                                       into ‘something’.

                       Something that was thought to have had lost its value..

       

                                                                    and you know.. it can be the same for us..

                                     encountering Life as we go.

                   Today.. Have a blessed day.

                           And be on the ‘lookout’

Matthew 25

 

⁴⁰

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

                                              knowing there is a 'really Good Deal' ..

 just waiting to meet you..

                                                                                            along The Way.  
 

 

                               

Friend

‘The long and winding road

 That leads to your door

 Will never disappear

 I’ve seen that road before

 It always leads me here

 Lead me to your door.’

    (the Beatles – from the 1970 album ‘Let It Be’) 

Imagine your best friend, that you know and trust.

  

      Someone you have known for years.

Take a moment and put a face to it, it helps. ( I see Gordon.. Harry.. Joe.. JB….)

                        Now imagine looking at him as he says ‘I love you’ , or 

maybe ‘I love you man’.

        Because you know him, you believe him.

  

               You might tell him you 'love him' too.

  

                                    Because you know him.

Now..

                                           Imagine he is killed. Ruthlessly

             You share the love he gave you, with your family, your children. 

   

                                   They know you , and maybe had met him, so they believed you.

                Time goes on.

                                              Your children have children.  

   

     They know you as their ‘grandparent’, and they hear the story of a man 

who loved ‘granpa’ (or ‘granma’). 

They never met this ‘man’ who loved, but listen to their parents, believe 

them, 

                and like the story.

    

     They have children…who never met grandpa..or the ‘man’..and they 

share the story with their children.              

                It passes the time at the dinner table. Now just a good story.

And after 20 generations.. 

        The ‘story’ had drifted far from the core.

                                it had become only a story.

  

   Far from the believing in what had been done, back when the ‘best friend’ gave his love.

                                                       And his life. 

 The spirit of the story was lost. 

  

                                      This ‘Man’

                                                 Who looked at His close friend and said  

I Love You’.

                                          and to the ruthless..

                                               “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

         Today..

                  give The Gift..

                 by giving back what has been given to you, through Jesus Christ

                                so that He can start telling the Story in the First person again….through you.   

                                                       By believing It as the Truth.  

                                         There was no compromise then…and there never will be in Him.   

                                        The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.