Olivia has been brainstorming for the last few months wanting so desperately to come up with something she can do to raise money for the adoption (specifically she has decided she wants to pay for her own plane ticket to China). She has suggested a lemonade stand, selling some of her stuff, and several other ideas as well.
Earlier this year, we purchased a couple button bracelets form a lady selling them on Facebook trying to raise funds for a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. The idea of button bracelets seemed simple enough so I suggested it to Olivia the next time she brought up the lemonade stand again (keep in mind this was the winter months when she kept talking about a lemonade stand). She really liked the concept of making button bracelets and decided this was going to be her fundraiser!
We haven’t told her how much her plane ticket is going to cost us—just that it is “a lot of money”. Brian told her that even if she raised ¼ of the money for her ticket that would be great, but she is insistent that she is going to raise enough money to fully pay for her ticket. She has no doubts that she will be able to do this and actually gets quite upset with you if you suggest otherwise.
I know her goal for this project is to raise enough money for her plane ticket to China, but I am hoping she learns a myriad of lessons through her button bracelet project. My hope is that she will learn that (1) God always provides, (2) in general most people really do care (3) we were never meant to do life alone and need other people—it’s ok to ask for help when you need it and (4) you have to be willing to put the work in to get results.
She made a video last week and asked me to put it on my Facebook page to spread the word about her button bracelets. In the meantime she has been collecting buttons, buying elastic cord and talking to our neighbors and everyone else she runs into about her project. In less than a week she has received over 30 orders for her bracelets and is super excited! We currently have buttons all over our dining room table and she spends each evening working on a few more bracelets and writing short handwritten thank you notes to go with each bracelet.
I love that she has no doubts that she will meet her goal. I love that she has no reservations about talking to people about her project and asking them if they would like to purchase a bracelet. She is a girl on a mission! I cannot wait to see the end results of her work and wonder how this simple button bracelet project will make a lasting impact on her. I know I am learning lessons through this too.
