Barrett's Bracelets

Here is a picture of almost all of the sweet girls in my community group (two of them had already gone home, so they didn't make the picture) and Melissa (in the middle), who goes to our church. Let me tell you about Melissa's nephew, Barrett.

Melissa's sister and brother-in-law have three children. They have always wanted to adopted a child and felt like God's plan was for them to start the process and they have chosen to adopt a child from Russia. As you can imagine, trips to Russia can be very expensive. Barrett decided that he needs to travel with his parents when they go pick up his brother in Russia. For the sake of telling the story correctly, I've copied the following from their blog:

Our oldest child B came to us a few months ago and asked if he could go to Russia with us to "pick up" his new brother. We told him that due to the cost of the plane ticket and us now knowing how even Mommy and Daddy were going to get there, it wasn't going to work out. "But I have $135" was his matter of fact reply. We told him a ticket would cost more like $1000 and he headed off to his room. A few minutes later, B returned with a well-thought out plea: "Well, since I am going to be his only brother, I think he wants to meet me first. And I think he wants me to see where he was born since he'll get to see where I was born. I can save $1000. I'll do extra chores. I really want to go to Russia."

Of course our hearts melted and we agreed to let him go under one condition: that he did pay for his own plane ticket. B was THRILLED and saw the challenge ahead as a totally achievable goal. We decided that he could do a large recycling drive (in CA we can turn in plastic bottles, soda cans, etc. for cash), some jobs in our neighborhood, and a few other fundraisers. He was pumped! He paid for his passport out of his own money and he was off... The recycling was an instant success: our kids LOVE the hunts for bottle and cans. We have a number of wonderful friends saving their recycling for us. B even recycled at an Angels' game recently after nearly being moved to tears at the thought of leaving all those bottle and cans behind!

Around Mother's Day, I came up with a craft for B's Sunday School class to make their moms and it has emerged (per B's idea) into a massive effort towards B's trip. B makes bracelets. We started out thinking he would sell 50 or so to family and close friends...he is well on his way to selling 300! B decided that his goal of $1000 was "too simple" for him and so now he is on his way to raise $5000--he'll pay for his plane ticket, food, hotel, and supplies for the trip, gifts for the orphanage, and perhaps his new brother's ticket home! We are so proud of him; and now due to the large success of the "Made for an Angel" bracelets, are all part of this crafting effort. He even has college students from the University where my husband and I work volunteering their time to try to keep up with the orders. B buys all of his own supplies and has designed these adorable bracelets. He has a charm that says, "Made for an Angel" in the middle of each bracelet...of course that angel is his brother.

On Wednesday night, Melissa came over with all of her bracelet making supplies and we made bracelets for Barrett to sell. Of course, I think all of us purchased one for ourselves! They are very cute!

It's the sweetest story ever. Barrett's parents must be wonderful...rather than telling him it was impossible, they helped him find a way to raise money so that his dream can come true. What great lessons this is teaching him! And, Barrett must be a wonderful little boy for bringing all of this into fruition!

I have added a link to their blog in my favorites. Go there and read about their sweet family and buy a few hundred bracelets from Barrett!