Blessings

             “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)

 

          It’s the day after the first art and craft sale I ever administered. It’s also the day after the first art and craft sale in which I’ve ever participated as a crafter. It will not be the last. I’ve already asked for a Saturday next January. The sale (and I) received great reviews, and some criticism that needs to be considered. But the passage above was suggested by Biblegateway.com, so I’m considering the whole art/craft sale thing as a case study.

          My selfish reasons for wanting the art and craft sale were so that I could learn to market my books better, so that I would have a chance to sell my books, and to use the proceeds not associated with my books to expand my garden, allowing me to raise more food for myself, for my neighbor(s), and for the food pantry associated with my church. Those were what I was asking for and seeking.

          Spiritually, I’m not sure I was seeking much, but I was well aware that it could strengthen my faith and my connection with other people in the park but I wasn’t going into it with those blessings in mind and I know better than to try to analyze whether my faith is stronger. That’s just not a direction it does me good to go.

          So, the asking, seeking, and knocking began a year ago, when I suggested it to the association board. They gave me a green light. I started talking about it and found some people who said they’d help. I spent the summer crocheting dish clothes and hot pan pads and macrameing produce bags and plant hangers – and I’m not saying that I worked on them here and there when I felt like it. I kept busy with them.

          When I came back to Florida, I added other products. I ended up finding and painting cardboard to make signs. By the time I got them stenciled, I was getting frustrated. I asked for help and got it. When it came time to set up the clubhouse, I asked for help, and got it. Someone helped me solve the problem of traffic flow. The set up was basically done and crafters were setting up their tables during the last 2 hour period I expected to use to just get the clubhouse ready.

          I got up late on the morning of the sale, but we “opened” early and the first several hours were fairly active. People bailed before they should have, but as a result, the clubhouse was returned to normal by the time the sale was supposed to be ending. As I said, we got basically good reviews.

          I sold more books at the sale than I have sold since they were published. That’s not a lot of books, but it’s a positive. And I think I may have made enough money to cover the cost of seeds and plants. The product I have left over, I can sell another time. Yes, making the stuff I sold took time and money, and maybe ultimately, I’ve spent more on the supplies than I made. That’s very possible.

          The blessings I sought were to learn to sell my books and to come up with money to fund my garden. I have done those things, at least a little. It involved a process in which I had to participate. It took hard work and frustration. It involved a year of my life. So often, we think that a blessing is something we ask for that then just happens. If we put effort into it, we’re interfering with the blessing. After all, we don’t want to be like Abram and Sarai, who decided to help God fulfill His promise to bless them by adding Hagar to the equation.

          My three takeaways from the past several days in connection with today’s passage are:

1)   The blessing may be “spiritual” or it may not be. Requests for nonspiritual blessings aren’t immediately rejected. They may well be granted and I’m not the exception to that rule.

2)   The blessings we’re seeking may not happen immediately or miraculousy. We may be involved in the hard process of making them a reality.

3)   Requests for blessings may not be granted immediately. They could be years away. That doesn’t mean they’re not being granted. This one involved a year after the idea came to mind.