It is Sunday and I returned home this afternoon from the OCEAN Homeschool Conference where I manage the UCE. I have done this for six years now. For those of you who don’t know what the UCE is it is a big used books sale focused on materials for home educators. I have loved managing this event all these years.
We begin by setting up for the sale….like here
Do you see that blue tape on the ground? We call it our “Disney Land Line”. It helps people stay in a neat and tidy line while waiting to purchase their materials. I almost passed out with all the up and down I had to do in getting that tape on the ground. A precious 9 year old girl rescued me.
And then there is the receiving of the books and sorting them to the proper tables…..like here:
We received 9284 books this year. About 1,000 less than last year. My volunteers are excellent at putting the books where they go and making it easy for the shoppers to browse and find what they want.
There is often training of cashiers. Carla was helping out by filling an empty cashier spot.She was a quick study.
Once it gets close to the time of the sale people start lining up. We let people into the sale in groups at certain time slots. Here is a section of the line to enter the sale. 
This year the sale was over two days. New to us and I didn’t know what to expect. From the comments I have heard it seems people liked it. One of the benefits is that the area was much less crowded. Instead of letting a group of 100 people in every 10 minutes we spread that out to every 30 minutes. It made for nicer shopping. 
Of course you can’t get through the event with out a few problems. Computers are often diabolical problematic. Jeremy is kind enough to help when I get a little muddled. He understands computers. Me…..not so much
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Let the shopping begin.
People have their own way of shopping. Some find things they are interested in and sit down and look through all of it trying to figure out what they want. 
I’m mean. I give people 15 minutes to figure out what they want. They are good about it. They know they have to get the books back out there if they don’t want them. 
Other people seem to know what they want when they see it.
The shoppers are always kind to each other. No elbowing, or tripping. 
My cashiers are great. They sit there for hours painstakingly scanning in all the products people buy making sure they get it all correct
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Our wait time for getting to a cashier was only minutes. In the past (one day sale) it was an hour. The new computers Jeremy provided were a big help. Fast, very fast.
This sale would never happen without all of the wonderful people who volunteer each year. Many help every year. I look forward to seeing them each year. This young man has helped every year. He knows good books and we both have a great love for books. He is an awesome young man
After six years of being involved with this wonderful conference it is time to pass the baton. I don’t live in the city anymore. Life has changed and it is a good change but definitely a different direction.
I have had the pleasure of working along side OCEAN board members and associates. They have been such great mentors and models of servant-hood to me. They are a special group of people. So completely dedicated to glorifying God and supporting the homeschool community.
I have also had the pleasure of meeting and working along with people who are the salt of the earth. They are giving, dedicated, hard working and self sacrificing.
People have always been so thankful to me for the effort I have put into this over the years and I appreciate that. But God has used everyone of those people and this whole event to bless me. It is one of the great things about serving others. By doing so, God blesses the giver as much as the receiver.
I am closing this post with tears in my eyes as I look back but a smile on my face as I look forward to a bright new future for my family.
In Him,
Karen
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