Where there's a will, there's a way!

I want to take a minute or two to brag about my wonderful daughter. She is amazing in every way. Of course, for those of you who truly know her, you are aware of that already. Well, let me tell you what she did this time.

She has been given the opportunity to go to Washington DC in April for a 10 day trip with the other 8th graders from Hickman Charter. The trip will cost $1800.

As parents, we are always looking for ways for our children to learn about real-life experiences. In real life, one does not experience a trip like this without hard work and sacrifice. We calculated that Amanda could earn about $100 dollars a month by baby-sitting, teaching piano lessons, allowance, and other odd jobs. This would take dedication on her part, but we knew that the lessons learned along the way would be life-lessons. With this in mind, we asked her to earn half of the money for the trip.

When we talked with her, she was excited about going, and she told us that she would really like to pay for the whole trip, if possible. We were shocked, but amazed at her enthusiasm and maturity.

What an enormous goal for a 12 year old! We told her that we would support her in any way possible.

So, last Saturday we held a fund raising garage sale. Amanda gathered donations, cleaned and priced everything, made fliers and street signs, and ran her first garage sale. She even made homemade jam to sell at her garage sale. She did an amazing job, and the garage sale was a success.

Amanda made strawberry jam the night before the "big sale". She offered samples to her customers, and she sold 13 of her 16 jars. Yum! Yum! Doug was secretly disappointed that she sold so many jars, because he LOVES her jam and wanted it for himself.

Stephanie and Daniel made chocolate chip cookies from scratch. I was so busy with other things, that I let Daniel be 100% in charge of measuring and mixing the ingredients with Steph. They did a great job! Out of a double batch, there were only 4 cookies left over after the first day of the sale. I think a few got snagged by the chefs, but that's life. aniel and Stephanie sold lemonade and chocolate chip cookies. She also showed everyone how to play with her "favorite" toys.

As for Amanda, she sure learned a lot about people; the people that she knows and the strangers that she encountered at the sale. She learned that there are people in her life who want her to succeed and are willing to help her along her journey. She also learned a lot about the nature of people in general. The people who attended her garage sale were either very supportive and eager to help her, or they were there to get everything possible for the least possible amount. She has a few of her own funny stories to tell about different people that she encountered.

I know that I am so proud of her willingness to work hard and stick to it until the end, even though it was 90+degrees. I am also very thankful to my wonderful friends who donated things to her garage sale, stopped by for a glass of lemonade, and called to give her support and encouragement. She couldn't have done it without each of you. That means so much to me! It reinforces the concept that it DOES take "a village to raise a child". THANK YOU FOR BEING PART OF OUR VILLAGE!

Everything that we do in life helps us to learn and grow. This was an amazing learning experience for Amanda all the way around. And what did I get from this whole experience. Tons!
1. I have more room in my backyard now that the Little Tikes toys are gone.

2. Because Amanda ran the garage sale, I had time to reorganize and clean out both of our garages. As I was cleaning, I found more stuff to contribute to her sale.

3. I learned that there really wasn't any reason for me to stress about the signs being up on time, the prices being too high or too low, not having things that people wanted to buy, etc.

4. I saw again how willing Amanda is to jump in and get the job done regardless of the effort. She had no idea that her sale would be such a success, but she was willing to try regardless of the possible outcome.

5. I was again reminded about how wonderful my friends and neighbors are in our lives. Several friends, and a few strangers, donated extra money to Amanda's cause. Many people bought lemonade from Daniel and Stephanie, just because. Some gave a quarter and didn't even take anything in return. Wow! To see the joy in their eyes was a valuable lesson for me. The next time I see a lemonade stand, I will stop so that I can "pay it forward".

As I reflect upon the craziness of it all, my thoughts go back again to the generousity that was shown on behalf of my daughter. May God bless you all for your love and support.