I mentioned in my last blog post that my husband is a woodworking enthusiast. Here’s a picture of him in typical woodworking mode in his “shop” (aka converted garage).
Another of his passions is teaching first and second grade children about Jesus as a Sunday School teacher at our local church.
He is affectionately known as “Mr. Rick” by the children.
Woodworking for a Cause
Because Mr. Rick is also a member of the East Tennessee Woodworkers Guild (ETWG), he became aware of a non-profit program where woodworkers from around the country volunteer to donate handcrafted boxes to store beads for seriously ill children. The program is called “Beads of Courage®.”
Beads of Courage®Program
Jean Baruch, a nurse working on her Ph.D at the University of Arizona College of Nursing, developed the first Beads of Courage® program. It’s designed to support and strengthen children and families coping with serious illness, their families, and their health care providers.
Their journey with the program begins when each enrolled child is first given a length of string and beads that spell out their first name.
Beads as Symbols of Courage
Children receive colorful beads from treatment milestones. Beads can be provided for procedures such as drawing of blood or as complicated as surgery. These colorful beads serve as reminders and symbols of courage for what the children have achieved.
Some children, depending on their illness, may receive hundreds — to even — thousands of beads.
A Healthy Child Prays for a Sick Child
At the same time my husband was constructing his first box for the Beads Program, he came up with the idea of handcrafting a box for a healthy child at church. For a specially made, handcrafted box by him, this child would agree to pray for a child with cancer each day for at least one month.
These pictures are of the handcrafted box Rick made for “Jenna,” constructed of curly maple and walnut with a daisy design and yellow interior flocking (felt) of her choosing. 
Volunteering for this opportunity to help serve sick children inspired my husband to teach children in his Sunday School class empathy for children who are suffering and sick.
More importantly, “Mr. Rick” taught an important lesson on the need to pray for seriously ill children to know Jesus, to not be afraid, and to get well if it is in God’s perfect will.
What a nice story! “Mr. Rick” is not only a very talented woodworker, but a very caring person as well.
Thank you Danni for commenting. He sure is!