(The story of saying YES… circa 2013)
This is the account of how one little yes has changed everything for me in the last two months:
I have several friends who are engaged in the fight against human trafficking. They have travelled all over the world and looked into the eyes of these girls and women so very much like our daughters, like ourselves, and they have been changed as a result. I have heard their stories… and honestly I tried to keep my heart at a distance because it was too hard to hear some of the truth of what is happening. Too painful. To overwhelming.
I thought, “I can’t even solve my own life’s issues- how can I possibly help? I am just a suburban mom. What could I possibly do from here?” Then my friend Brandi launched a campaign called She’s Worth It (shesworthitcampaign.com) to raise money and awareness in the fight against human trafficking. She’s Worth It supports organizations all over the world who are on the front lines of this battle against this darkness. She asked me to consider raising money…and I avoided her e-mails and texts. But she wouldn’t give up… so finally I gave in and said I would join her and I committed with shaking knees to raise $5,000 to support two amazing organizations- NightLight International (www.nightlightinternational.com) and Indian Rescue Mission (www.indianrescuemission.org)
I said yes. One little yes. I really had no faith that I would be able to raise $5,000- that was surely an impossible task. I thought, “Well, I will do what I can and in the end I will just have to tell her sorry, I tried my best.” I knew I wasn’t going to ask all my friends and family for money. Not happening. So how could I even attempt this? Then I remembered this quote from Erma Bombeck, “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, “I used everything you gave me.” I began thinking about what I could do with what I already have in my hands. The thought occurred to me to create a necklace with the logo for She’s Worth it…which happened to come at the perfect time for Valentine’s Day. So that night I photoshopped the heart artwork into a photo I already had of a necklace, created an Etsy listing, sent the link off to my friend Brandi and went to bed.
The next morning I woke up and I had 15 orders! Now mind you, I hadn’t created a single necklace yet!! So I got to work creating those necklaces and designing the packaging…and by the end of the first week we had sold over 100. I had to order more supplies and figure out how to streamline the process. My friends and family rallied around me and jumped in to help me solder, package and ship the! first tidal wave of orders!
The next week my friend Melody Ross promoted necklace on her Brave Girls Club Facebook page (bravegirlsclub.com) and I received 70 orders in 24 hours. At the end of 3 weeks I had sold over 250 necklaces and raised over $5000! Truly miraculous! And it is still continuing! I have sold over 350 necklaces and raised over $7,000!!!
We have shipped necklaces all over our country (40 states) and to two countries!
The original 5k goal was blown out of the water, so the new goal is 10k! If that is met, the remaining money goes to our friend, Stephanie Ackerman’s goal of 5k!
What a journey it has been. I have been changed and one of the huge lessons I learned through this wild journey is….
You never know what one little yes will lead to.
Sometimes it’s one little yes that changes everything.
I’m going to keep saying yes. You should too!
Lisa
