What began as a hobby became an addiction. That is the story of my figs!
When we first began praying about whether God was indeed calling us to go to the mission field, my first thought was, “Well He’s gonna have to sell a lot of fig trees then!” Realistically, I knew this would be a tall task and if they all sold, that would be a strong confirmation that we were hearing His voice correctly. The reality is that I had attempted to sell my trees in previous years with no success. The prior year I had listed my fig trees on Craigslist for much of the growing season and had only managed to sell one or two over the course of a few months and multiple reposts. I figured there just isn’t enough interest in growing these trees outside of their natural growing climate. Even more daunting was the thought that I hadn’t even listed my tropical fruit trees last time around, which are even more difficult to grow in New York’s climate because they have to come inside during the winter in front of a window. However, this is what God has to say on the matter…
Ephesians 3:20 AMP
20 Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us,
Who am I to limit the ability of God to do exceedingly, abundantly more than all I could ask or imagine? I spoke to the Lord and said “God, this should be interesting. If you want me to go, would you please sell all of these trees for me.”
Initially I had the trees listed on Craigslist again with only 1 or 2 inquiries. I watched as Jonali was selling all sorts of baby items through some sort of online maternity garage sale. Realizing nothing was selling, I asked her to post the figs on her online garage sales. I don’t think either of us was ready for the response to that post. We had so many people responding that Jonali literally could not keep track of all of the people that were inquiring. She was forced to start directing people to come during a couple of brief 1-2 hour time slots that weekend. We had to create deli counter style numbering stubs to keep track of the order in which people would arrive. Two days and 30 people later, about a third of the trees were gone. The following weekend we had a similar response. After 2-3 weeks, we were down to about a third of the trees but interest seemed to have dried up. Jonali was still questioning whether they would all sell, and we still had all of the tropical fruit trees.
In posting the trees, Jonali had assumed people would mostly be interested in the figs and hoped people would buy the tropicals here and there. However, to this point, few if any had sold. When she added the tropicals to a post, suddenly people started coming out of the woodwork to buy them. Some of the stories were just the most bizarre stories you could imagine. I figured, there’s no way I’ll be able to sell some of the plants like a kiwi vine, or a couple kumquat seedlings that only had a couple baby leaves. Suddenly someone would show up at the house and say “I’m starting a restaurant inside a barn and I just really need a kiwi vine to grow up the inside of the walls.” Then a guy came by saying he was there for the kumquats. Jonali didn’t tell me he was coming and I said to him “did she tell you over the phone that they’re really small? That’s actually them right there, those little ones with a couple leaves. I had priced them for $10 each figuring they wouldn’t sell but not wanting to spend the time to sell them for less. He said yes I want them. I looked at him and said can I ask why you want these and he told a quick story about how he tried them in high school and was immediately hooked ever since and that when he had heard I had some he needed them. I was like “well these are really small I apologize” and before I could fully apologize for wasting his time driving out for a couple baby seedlings he had pulled them out of my hand stuffed $20 in my hand and left saying “I just really need these Kumquats!” What? I don’t know what to say, but this story seemed to repeat again and again! And it was never the same story twice. It seemed no two people wanted the same things either. The testimonies were amazing.
For the first 3-4 weeks, we had been posting the figs a couple days before the weekend to give people time to make weekend plans to come over but it was now a Sunday afternoon and we hadn’t posted the plants in over a week. Jonali said what are we going to have a hard time selling the rest of the tropicals as the ones we had left were mostly giant 6-7 foot trees growing in those giant blue tubs with rope handles. I asked Jonali if she had made a post exclusively for the tropicals and she said no. I said well why don’t we make one just for them? Recognizing the weekend, which was the only time we had to sell them, was hours from being over. She agreed to post them, fully aware that it made no sense to do so at this point. However, God is not limited by what our limited minds can comprehend or imagine. He wants to do exceedingly, abundantly more! The kids were down for a nap and she had a chance to post them. Before the kids woke up from that nap, the tropicals were all gone. A couple cars came with interest in possibly buying one and they left with as many as they could fit in their vehicles. It was amazing!
The figs also continued to sell and eventually it wasn’t the interest that dried up but rather the availability of trees! We nearly had to turn people down but it worked out that every single tree was accounted for, right down to the very last which my mom wanted as a gift and memory.
To be sure, I would estimate I began with around 200 fig trees and 30+ tropical fruit trees. A few short weeks later they were all spoken for, at full price, with virtually no overlapping interest in the same plants and no one being left out. When I tell you that God can do exceedingly, abundantly more than all we could ask or imagine, it is not from a place of head knowledge but rather, experiential knowledge.
And that is not even the best part of this story. You see, I had written an informational sheet with all of my tips from a decade of growing figs. On there I included this message, even though many would consider it a surefire way to lose sales…
Most importantly, have fun! This is a rewarding hobby and pays off with tasty superfruits! I hope these instructions encourage you to explore and enjoy the fun and rewarding hobby of growing figs and I leave you with this sound advice from our figgin’ forefathers, Adam and Eve…
Don’t do as they did! They covered themselves with fig leaves to hide their shame from sin. That would just be weird. Besides…There’s no need to hide behind fig leaves… Jesus died to take away your sin and shame because He loves you deeply. He would never shame you, just read the story in John 7:53-8:11. He wants to restore your relationship with Him like Adam and Eve enjoyed before rebelling. If you think I’m a lemming following a dead god, please check out holyspiritmovement.org first. You might even see some people you know. I serve the Living God, not a dead one! And He is still working the same miracles today through those who believe. I’m available to pray, encourage and answer questions any time. If you want to know how to start your relationship with God, read Romans 10:9-13.
In life and in figging, it’s better to learn from others’ mistakes than to replicate them.
The result of this step of faith was remarkable. Many people were touched, encouraged, moved and reminded that we’re not alone in this world. What began as a simple addition to our sheet resulted in the good news of Jesus being shared with over 50 people! Even more, many amazing conversations came about while selling the figs. Multiple people had amazing encounters with God while buying trees at our home.
One such encounter began with a young girl being interested in a Goji plant and ended with God’s power taking away the mother’s pain from Rheumatoid Arthritis and covering her with His peace from the moment she drove up our driveway. We were able to minister Jesus’ love to a very broken mother and her two daughters who were homeschooled and caught in a home with an abusive husband/father. They were crying out inside for help and Jesus encouraged them with such words of love and healing for over an hour. At one point the mother said she had never had strength to stand for 15 minutes since being diagnosed and the daughter looked at her watch and noted they had been standing for over an hour with zero pain or weakness. It’s a beautiful thing to share Christ’s love with a broken and hurting world. His light shines so bright in the midst of such darkness! I hope this story encouraged you as much as it encouraged me to see that we serve a mighty God who wants to do exceedingly, abundantly more!