Brad's Story - Part 5

Once inside, Brad realized that PS I Love You wasn’t a thrift store. It was like a fancy boutique or department store. He’d never been shopping like this before. The ladies gave him a small rolling cart with a list of items to pick out and showed him where the teen room was.

There were clothes and PJs, but the wall of shoes immediately caught his eye. New shoes. Nice shoes. Shoes his neighbors would brag about. He realized he was staring when the kind lady said, “You wanna try on shoes first or pick out clothes?”

Within minutes, Brad picked out school clothes, gym shorts, Nike shoes, and a new bookbag full of toiletries, even finding a new baseball, glove, and some cleats. He couldn’t believe someone was crazy enough to buy a total stranger this much stuff, but he was gonna take all he could get.

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The next few days turned into weeks. Brad felt unsettled, but safe in this home. Mostly quiet and kept to himself, still pretty angry if he was being honest about it.  He continued at his school and played on the baseball team with the weird new family in the stands. One night while they were eating ice cream, celebrating a big win, Brad finally asked Dylan, “Why?” 

“Why what, Buddy?” the kind man asked, as he waved at the coach who was walking in the door. 

“Why do you let random people live in your home and eat your food?”

“Well, your coach and I go way back,” Dylan said as the coach walked up and pulled up a chair, “We got into some trouble while we were in high school, and my dad kicked me out. Your coach’s family took me in, started taking me to church, and teaching me what Grace was. I didn’t think I deserved a family or a second chance, but Jesus radically changed my life that summer. He gave me a new life. Do you remember when you went to PS I Love You? You came home and made a comment that I’ll never forget… “You felt like all that stuff was for a new life.”

That’s right. You weren’t ready to hear it then, but they were showing you that you deserve a new life. But new life doesn’t happen through Nike shoes, or winning a championship like tonight… it only happens through Christ.

Brad's Story is an incredible story of a child in foster care included in PS I Love You's 2026 Mission Kit. For more information about engaging your church or child's organization, visit https://www.psiloveyouministries.com/missions