I want to share my testimony.

Just a few days ago, I attended The Gathering @ Round Top - held at The Pie Haven. I will say....without a doubt...it was JUST what I needed.

You know when you can feel a....SHIFT....coming on? Like you've been through the fire, but you didn't know you were going through it, until you're on the other side & you turn around and just know...that something has shifted.

I'm SO thankful and EXCITED for the shift. I used to try and UNDERSTAND the shift...piece together ALL the parts that led up to the shift...BE the shift. Now I smile & JUST BE who God is calling me to be. When the shifts happen they are ALWAYS way cooler & CreAtiVE than anything I could ever dream up.

I recently came to a place where I was so worn out...I was GRATEFUL to just BE STILL & pray & look & listen & discern where The Holy Spirit wanted to lead me.

I'm always AMAZED at how The Good Lord weaves things together...everything...His people...the thoughts of His people...the actions of His people...all of it. I had The Gathering on my calendar & had the awareness of how my schedule had been lately....which was....unless I was NEEDED...there was NO GUARANTEE that I'd be there....but I REALLY wanted to be, so I put it on there. My friend Tara shared the reminder on her Facebook Page & well...it was the prompting I needed to walk where The Holy Spirit was calling me.

There were approximately a dozen speakers...all businesswomen or people that are part of a business team, sharing their testimony. I have a notebook page and a half filled with topics that moved me....simply by these wonderful women GATHERING together to SHARE their testimonies. Because of this...I will be blogging on each of those points that I wrote down on that notebook paper. Why? Because no one else can share my testimony & no one else can help who God needs me help, the way I can help them.

I've been absent in the blogging world...compared to how I once was, BUT I made the decision...that if I have to FORCE the content...then I'm straying from what led me to blogs in the first place...WHICH IS the DIVINE guidance of The Holy Spirit. With that... I will SHARE my testimony...thus far.

It's hard to know where to start, because...like I stated earlier...The Good Lord has been weaving things together....MY ENTIRE LIFE...but I think the best place to start is sharing where some pretty important seeds were planted & what happened when they started sprouting ;).

I'm a small town girl from Carmine, Texas. I was by no means the most popular girl in school, but somehow managed to win Homecoming Queen my Senior Year. My parents, little sister, brother & I, lived in a double-wide, right between my Uncle & my Grandma. My Daddy has been on crutches since I was in 2nd grade & my Mom was a stay-at-home Mom when we were young. She later, started waiting tables at Klump's in Round Top & now works for Burton Sausage. My sister & I competed in cutting horse competitions when I was 11 roughly...(She was 9). My brother would just come along and play with other kiddos at the shows. When I was twelve I started working at the cattle auction in Giddings, that my uncle was the auctioneer at...where he later became one of the owners that bought it out. There was a girl named B.J. that worked there too. She ENCOURAGED me to hop back there (literally from the cat walk) & go to work. So...every Monday I could, from that summer...until I was probably 16ish...I punched cattle in the back of the sale barn. I also showed heifers & market lambs in 4H & FFA.

The day I graduated high school I started dating an under-classman. He was becoming a Jr, as I was leaving. We...by the grace of God...stayed together for 6 years & got married on our 6 yr dating anniversary. Almost...but not quite...a year later we had our first child...a little girl & 3 & 1/2 years later we had a son. Boy did a lot happen in that time....They'll be parts of this I'll touch on in future blog posts, BUT...for the time-being...I think it's important that I share the following:

• I attended Blinn College in Brenham, later transferring to Texas State University -where I commuted to and from school 3 days a week, ALWAYS having at least 2 part-time jobs. 
• Those jobs were: store clerk at 2 trendy little shops in Round Top (La Finca & Next Stop...Paris), waiting tables at Klumps & Cafe Pie In The Sky during Antique Shows, punching cattle, working in the office, or waiting tables at the sale barn, pulling weeds in someone else's garden, being a bank teller at a mobile bank, cashier at a lumber yard, & working at a daycare.
• My last semester at Texas State I had an Ad Campaigns Class. We put together 2 campaigns that semester. One was for a non-profit (Austin Cycling Association) & the other for a business (McCoy's Building Supply). My job title was Account Executive - which was ultimately managing and/or leading the other people on my team, to ensure that everything got carried out and executed that needed to. I failed the first time & knocked it out of the park the next time, with our group winning the pitch for McCoy's building supply...being the first pitch to go of the evening!
• My Dad had to have a liver transplant to stay alive in 2006. We held several fundraisers to help generate the funds. He is still alive & kickin' & his grandkids love him. The LIVE auctions...by far...is what generated the majority of the funds raised. All of the money raised and donations given were from ordinary people that loved or liked my Dad & wanted to support him & us....with a handful of complete strangers.This whole thing planted a GINORMOUS seed in me. 
• BEFORE I got my degree I started looking for a job in my degree field (Advertising). I submitted a resume to Suddenlink Media in College Station for an Account Executive position selling TV air time.
• When I applied for the job, I had ABSOLUTELY no idea what that job entailed, but was TOTALLY CONFIDENT that I was qualified. I could do it...no problem...& didn't really want to take "no" for an answer.
• I got an interview. I did not get hired for the job I applied for, but the manager told me that he may have a position for me elsewhere in the company & they may "create" one. All I can say is... if he wasn't serious...he became serious when I called him at the end of every week for 4 weeks...until he gave me another interview...after telling him...I was being interviewed again for a job with another company & if he was serious I wanted him to be aware. He later told me...it was my persistence that made the impression on him. 
• I was hired. I SUCCEEDED. I learned A LOT of VALUABLE lessons about professionalism, business, persistence, customer service, presentation, working with other departments, meeting & exceeding goals, creating marketing pieces & advertising schedules, working within client budgets. 
• I took another position with the company in Rockport, Texas. After accepting the job, found out I was pregnant with our daughter... Went through all the emotions of what management would think and be concerned with. 
• Worked from home & worked harder than I ever did in the office. 
• Within the next 6 years things started changing. Looking back...I believe God was stretching me & molding me...and I wasn't fitting the mold the position was calling for anymore.  Navigating that was a booger....because I was resisting God, but I didn't even know it. In fact...I thought for a loooooooooong time that I didn't have a thing to do with it, because I was doing what SOCIETY expected me to do & things just weren't gelin'.
• By all means...I made some GREAT friends, learned LOTS of things, worked with businesses in all industries, worked with ad agencies of all sizes, made some good money...but I was a square peg...well maybe a trapezoid or something....trying to fit into a round hole....& I was REALLY trying to jam it in there. 
• In 2011 (amongst those 6 years) after praying HARD....& into the wee hours of the morning, with tears of frustration rolling down my face...I said to God. "I know you brought me here (Rockport). I know I was supposed to be here, but I don't know if I'm still supposed to be here. All I want God is to have my work pay off for someone...for it to actually matter, & to be appreciated. I have no clue what that looks like. I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty. I just want a good quality of life for my family & to enjoy what I do & do what you want me to do." It was really like a light bulb went off...the THOUGHT of being an auctioneer scampered across my brain. I wrote it down in my journal....& yet...once again....I had NO IDEA what I was getting myself into, but felt TOTALLY confident that I could do whatever the next step was at least.
• I called and told my Dad my completely off-the-wall idea, that literally came to be DURING prayer. He asked me to "do a little bit" on the phone. I said: "A little of what?" He said: "Sell something." I was freakin' embarassed & we were on the phone! I didn't have a chant AT ALL, but I just sold something & he said..."Well, you don't really sound bad." I told him NOT to call my Uncle....
• My Uncle Melvin called within the hour & told me I was going to be selling at the Plum Church Feast. I was like...."No I'm not! I don't even have a chant." He asked me to sell something. He said..."you sound all right. You can meet me at the house and ride with me."
• I knew, in that moment, that I couldn't NOT go....IF I was serious....IF I believed in the power of prayer... IF I didn't want to run the risk of telling GOD "no" to something....I had to go...sink or swim...do or die...brave or embarassed...It was go time.
• So I got on You Tube & watched ALL the videos of female auctioneers I could find & paid special attention to a couple videos of John Korrey & Cookie Lockhart.
• I came up with my filler words, worked on my chant, practiced selling to my family, & counted LOTS of fenceposts as I was driving down the road. 
• Long story, short......I was ENCOURAGED at the next 4 auctions I went to with Uncle Melvin & was ENCOURAGED to go get my auction license....so I did in November 2011.
• SIDE NOTE: 2011 was also the year I finished my Bachelor of Arts Degree. 

• Well...I FINALLY quit Suddenlink. Boy that was exhausting. It was like I REALLY thought life as I knew it would end. BUT....I did NOT just dive into an auction career. Why? Because I was SCARED. My husband already thought I was crazy...along with his family...I'm sure of it. I didn't think we could "make it." I'M HERE TO TELL YOU....YOU CAN ALWAYS MAKE IT. MAYBE NOT HOW YOU ENVISION IT. STOP ENVISIONING & LET GOD PAINT THE PICTURE.
• So...for a year I was a marketing liaison for a skilled nursing facility. I am still astonished at this one. Like....REALLY astonished. I have/had some VERY DEEP rooted fears of illness & for a year...almost everyday...I walked into hospitals & nursing homes coming face to face with illness. Not just coming face to face with it....studying it, learning about medications, and diagnosis, and Medicare & Medicaid & the medical business & insurance business (YOU REALLY DON'T WANT TO GET ME STARTED ON THIS UNLESS YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT I THINK).
• Not only did I deal with the things listed above. I met people of all ages. I talked with families that had a loved one going in for a knee replacement & something happening in surgery causing them to have brain damage. I met with the family of a young homeless man, hit by a vehicle going 50+ mph, & watched his progress as they were trying to find placement for him. I will never EVER forget what a person looks like when a piece of their skull is removed to alleviate brain swelling. I met with a lady that had to have her stomach pumped at least 3 times a week for kidney failure & had to tell her that we could not accept her because she did not meet medical necessity based on Medicaid guidelines for a skilled nursing facility. I met with a man and his family....he was rear-ended & now is in a state where physically...he can't walk, talk, move on his own, but his memory is there....It's like he is trapped inside a body that doesn't work. I met with a mother, with a son my age that is autistic & diabetic & COMPLETELY dependent on her. I met with an elderly couple that had NO relatives left....all they have is each other...& she's fading & he's hanging on with ALL he's got. I had the opportunity to visit with a nurse, who's son is mentally  handicapped & she speaks of the coming of Jesus, with such fervent HOPE...that it shook me to my core. We sat there being thankful for God's silver lining in difficult situations like: the only words her son is able to speak is "Mommy, Mommy, I love you Mommy."
• There are some detours we take as we go along on our journey, that we never even knew existed. This is one of those & this was ALWAYS in God's plan. He planted a seed in that year - that I'm not quite sure what he's gonna do with it ....but...NO DOUBT...it is there. 
• We HAVE to care about His people. Not the money....Not the insurance companies...Not the bottom line. I had to leave because....I was once again a trapezoid peg trying to be shoved in a round hole, but this time....I wasn't going to beat it to pieces.  
• So...FINALLY.  I completely & FULLY said YES to God. I said YES to His plan. I submitted to Him. I trusted Him to care for me. I trusted Him to provide for us. I said YES to bearing the weight of people not "getting" it....not understanding it, judging us for it, condemning us for it. I said YES & did my best to prepare myself for EVERY possible hardship that I could encounter...as the result of me saying YES...(for the record...you'll still encounter things that in that moment you don't have the capacity to see yet.)
• I learned the importance of pouring grace & mercy on others & asking God to pour it on me & being thankful He does.
• I learned that worldly friendships have a season....all are important...always. Those friendships wax & wain & have to be placed in the hands of God also.
• I learned that everyone can't handle authentic...& that's okay. I couldn't either a few years ago. 
• I learned that God will bring the right people into your life. 
• I learned that there is nothing easy about saying YES to God's plan....mainly because of the struggle between our Spirit and our flesh.
• I learned that we know nothing. We control nothing. We have no say. We have no right. We are not justified in anything EXCEPT, by Christ's death on the cross, He has reconciled us to The Father & SIN HAS NO CONTROL OVER US....AS LONG AS WE CHOOSE TO BELIEVE IT.
• We have NO LIMITS...except the limits we place on ourselves...or let the enemy trick us into believing. 
• So...NOW...I'm still figurin' it out :).
• I am working as an auctioneer FULL-Time, with our company  Buck Up Auctions. We specialize in fundraising & asset liquidation auctions. I am also a Realtor with Schultz Homes & Land. That was another door that was flung WIDE open & all I had to do was walk through it. 
• I never had an interest when I first got into the auction business, to mess with estates AT ALL. The whole brain-eating disease you can get from rat feces TOTALLY freaked me out & turned me off from it, BUT God had other plans. I mean...He has to chuckle to himself up there sometimes. A lot of our estate clients have come to a place where STUFF IS A BURDEN to them & they need our help to get the most money they can out of it, in the fastest way possible. There are literally times when I can see the weight being lifted off their shoulders as the items are being sold. It's a God thing...
• My PERSONAL passion...are the fundraisers & galas because....you are working with organizations that have groups of people that SUPPORT their cause & what they are raising money for....& it doesn't take millionaires to make a difference in another person's life or in the success of an organization. By all means...it can make things a little easier...but ANY group of people can come together with their love & support & make BIG things happen. This is a model of God's love & can be spread through groups of people everywhere. There's sure to be more posts on this topic.
• The real estate....I can't really explain it...but it just ties in so well with my life & I enjoy it so much, It's like all 3 of the different scenarios I find myself in, keep me excited about the others. It allows me to help SO many different types of people with multiple different needs...& ENJOY it. 

At the Friends of Winedale Gala last month.

In one of the MANY dusty old barns we've been in this past year.

Doin' work!

On some of God's wide open country...

How do I wrap up this looooooooooooooooooong story of why I KNOW sharing my testimony is IMPORTANT? God has filled me up with A LOT of stuff. Just like the gift of being an auctioneer.... How am I really helping...if I don't say YES?! If I don't do it & share it? It is part of God's mysterious and fascinating story that can ONLY be told through me!

HUGE thank you to the ladies at The Gathering @ Round Top for truly letting The Holy Spirit guide them & speaking from a true honest place. They were His vessels allowing Him to SHARE His story through their lives.

Buck Up Baby & Ride With Jesus! You REALLY have to Buck Up & it really is a ride.

Heather Kaspar

Buck Up Auctions TXL 17037

Realtor with Schultz Homes & Land