Since we moved four years ago I have had a basement storage room full of stuff. Oh, we donated our fair share to the thrift store when we moved in. But still....I had Rubbermaid's full of stuff I just couldn't seem to part with. I had high hopes of having a huge garage sale or making a small fortune on E-bay. Needless to say I haven't gotten around to either.
We've been slowly organizing and purging and I have felt very good about our progress. However, there was still the issue of all those Longaberger baskets and all those Rescue Heroes. I tried advertising them both on Swap Shop a couple of times but didn't have any calls. Just my luck a lady called the radio LOOKING for Longaberger baskets! I dug out my big box and my big Rubbermaid (OK - Randy dug them all out) and I matched liners, lids, tie-ons, protectors with their baskets. I felt like it was now or never. Four years in the storage room - it's time to move those things. The buyer came. She picked several. More than several, actually. I knew my prices were ridiculous but I have checked e-bay and they just aren't hot sellers right now. I looked at her stack and I looked at the remaining baskets and I told her she could buy all of them for one price. That's right. I shot her an offer she couldn't refuse (and one I shouldn't have made) She left with every last basket that I had dug out. She got a bargain and I felt used and abused. WHAT WAS I THINKING? You know me - I can't buy (or apparently sell) anything without analyzing. over analyzing. reanalyzing. Don't feel too sorry for me because I have many baskets left. But THOSE are gone and I am second guessing my decision. Am I greedy? I guess so. I don't mean to be but times are tough for my family, too. Our expenses have gone up and Randy hasn't had a raise in over 5 years. I should have asked more money. What go into me?
I called Swap Shop this morning (for the third time) in an attempt to get rid of Abe's Rescue Heroes. Got a call. She was coming with her three year old this evening. Our little second hand basement boutique was a busy place today. Abe and Randy and I had all of them laid out with their backpacks. He went through and picked out his favorite of the favorite and we stuck them back in the closet. (Actually, we stuck half of them back in the closet). I had told her a ridiculously low price for the entire lot of toys. They took all of them we had laid out. Don't feel sorry for him. He has lots left. I should have asked a little more. They were like brand new. Am I greedy? I guess so but times are tough for my family, too. Our expenses have gone up and Randy hasn't had a raise in over 5 years. I should have asked more money for those things. What was I thinking?
Tonight, I was tucking Abe in and I asked him if he was OK with selling some of his old stuff. He said I could have sold that landing pad for AT LEAST TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS. Hmmm...... I replied that I thought it was nice to see a three year old boy so excited to land his new airplane on that landing pad and those toys were just sitting in our basement anyways. He said that it WAS fun to see how excited that little guy was. I told him he had lots of good years and fun memories of those toys and now it was time to move on. I told him it's good to clean out. To lessen our burden of material possessions.
I had better start practicing what I preach, don't you think?
2 comments:
Philippians 4:8 would be a good
passage if you were going to preach Sunday..
You could absolutely preach the sermon on Sunday. You just preached it, my friend. You did the right thing...the good thing...the hard thing...and encouraged your child to do the same and have a good attitude about it. And you were real about your regrets. Because the truth of the matter is, sometimes we regret--or don't like doing--the right thing. The challenge is...can we do it anyway? And to quote "Bob the Builder," YES WE CAN!!
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