It’s Marcie here,
I figured now that the Marketplace was over, I could write the last post to sum
up what happened this past weekend. It was something so beautiful. An
experience, a feeling, which words can’t quite seem to capture. But…I will try...
On Saturday, I walked over to the Thistle Farms booth. Shell, one of the workers from Thistle Farms was there, and as I walked over to her, she said “I heard you were adopting! Tell me your story. Everybody has a story.” As I began to tell her how the Lord had prepared a path of adoption for us, and as she listened with much interest and care, I thought of the True Beauty that was in that moment. Here I am, a girl placed for adoption as a baby by a birth mother who loved me so much but couldn’t take care of me. A girl who has faced the heartache of infertility in my life, and experienced the sweet grace of a Savior who loved me so much to lead us to His best plan for us…a plan of adoption. A plan that would completely turn our world upside down. A girl, who became a momma because of the heartache, loss and love of another momma. And now a girl, who longs for children across the globe that I’ve never met, but whom I know have faced so much heartache of their own already. Shell wanted to know this girl’s story. My story. And I needed to hear hers. A story of addiction and prostitution. Of deep despair and gut wrenching loss. But the story doesn’t end there. God did not discard her or forget about her. He sent his servant, a girl who had an idea. A seemingly simple idea. Love Heals.
Now, Shell has
her own place and is employed at Thistle Farms. She has bills and she pays
them. Once overlooked by society and considered worthless, she has been given
purpose. A future. And a hope. I needed to hear Shell’s story.
This, to me, is
the heartbeat of the Marketplace.
My vision was to
create a space for people to share stories. Stories of redemption, of making
old things new. Because that is what all of us experience in our lives on some
level. We know someone, or we ourselves have experienced heartache, hard times,
heart wrenching situations, and we have seen restoration, beauty, and hope rise
up with healing in it’s wings. Love does have the power to heal everybody.
This weekend at
the marketplace, gifts of HOPE were purchased, stories of LOVE were shared, and
many new relationships were made. And also, a little over $13,000 of revenue was generated and a huge percentage of that was made for
various gospel work around the world. Our family raised a little over $4,000 for our adoption. My dream became a reality and it was SO
MUCH MORE than anything I could have ever hoped for or imagined. God has a way
of doing that.
Thank you from
the bottom of my heart for your participation in the Marketplace. In a world
where we hear so many upsetting stories, it was refreshing to hear stories of
restoration, redemption, and the power of good to triumph over evil. God is at
work. And the power of His LOVE at work in His BODY has power to change the
world. To be able to see just a glimpse of this truth….well…it’s more than my
tiny mind and heart can handle. Praise be to Him. The giver of life. May you
all enjoy every single thing you purchased this weekend, and may it serve as a
reminder of what our Great God can do!!! Grace and Peace to you all!
We’ll see you
again next year!
*images by Kaelin Large (thanks Kaelin!)
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