That is the experience of Brighten A Corner Ministry. Watching God weave lives together, and beliefs into action is humbling.

Each project is a celebration of what God has done in each of our lives—each of our hearts. What He IS doing and continues to do…make beauty out of darkness.

So that we can appreciate the beauty of who we’ve become…

Living life for an audience of ONE is easier on paper than in real life. As beautiful as the work  is, at the end of the day what matters is not the praise received, but knowing we answered God’s call to the best of our ability. Our desire is NOT to be home when the recipient gets home, so that they can have their own experience with the change.  We never want to lose focus. We serve the Lord, not people.

We love the floors, the tile, the pictures in new frames, the counters, the many, many, many painted walls…the people who showed up over and over and over again and stayed until it was finished to make these miracles happen. God still moves mountains. Sometimes HE does it one volunteer at a time.

Brighten A Corner Ministry and my life are so entwined that what affects one affects the other; lessons learned in one are almost always equally applicable in the other. As I enter the new year in ministry and in life I am pondering the quote: “If it matters you make the time. If it doesn’t you make excuses”- A Holy Experience. Figuring out what matters has been a vital part of Brighten A Corner over the years, and continues to be a personal pursuit for me. So, as the year ends, here is the BAC list of top ten lessons, mostly from this past year. These lessons will become a disciplined part of 2012:

1. Clear communication is extremely difficult and very rare. Over and over again I have learned this lesson. I have discovered that sometimes my brain shuts off before I have the whole picture. Often the “shut off” happens because of stress. One piece of information that I don’t like, and my mind closes to the rest of the information.In case you were wondering, this is not a particularly productive habit. I am working on changing that about me AND remembering that people don’t read my mind. Or think like me. Thank goodness.
2. Appreciation is a priority. Thank you’s are not as frequent as they should be. This coming year I want to stop looking at thank you notes as ancient relics. Thank you notes will give me the opportunity both to say thank you and communicate clearly. It is a win-win plan.
3. On purpose is not important, it is imperative. Life is incredibly busy with moments of complicated craziness. If the things that really matter are not taken care of on purpose, I need to accept the fact that they will likely either not get done or not get done well.
4. The dread is often worse than the doing. For example, I am not a great phone caller. I come up with a million reasons in my head not to make the calls, convincing myself that many other things are more important. But the dread always nags me like a little voice in my head. The dread is draining. This coming year I want to pay more attention to those things I dread, and develop the discipline to get them done right away. (Maybe I will actually start exercising.) Okay, Nike…I get it…Just Do It.
5. Acquiring debt is not helpful. We came up short in fundraising a few projects ago. We finished the work we wanted to be done by borrowing money from a BAC supporter. This choice held us back for the last year. We learned a tremendous amount from that mistake, and it has helped refine us for a stronger future. However, the lesson stands firm.
6. The most effective way to get what you need is to figure out exactly what the need is and ask people directly and kindly to help. First this requires that I (we) must admit that I need someone else. Done. I have let go of the concept that “doing it all” is to be commended. Mostly  it is exhausting. It also means I have to graciously accept the answer if it is, “no.”
7. Apologies are rare. I have started to really pay attention to this one. People rarely say, “I’m sorry.” Perhaps it is only in my world that this is a reality, but I seem to have relationships with several people who are not ready apologizers. This has helped me to realize that I would like to be a person who willingly apologizes for my mistakes or when I am wrong.Unfortunately that means I need to a.) realize when I am wrong and b.) admit it. This one may be difficult.
8. The team makes all the difference. I have a good friend who used to say that your life in 5 years will be a direct result of the books you read and the people you hang out with. The ministry has only grown because of the team that makes it happen. We have added people with far more skills to the mix, and they have become precious and dear friends. I have also been reading lots more…because as much as I love my life there are certain aspects of it I want to be different in 5 years. If my life in 5 years is a reflection of the books that I read and the people I hang out with today, I want to make sure to stack the odds in my favor.
9. Being organized really does make things go more smoothly. Whatever. Wishful thinking.
10. Gratitude is always the best place to start. Being grateful to God, and grateful to each other is truly vital in seeing where we are starting any endeavor.

So, as we start the endeavor of 2012, a new project and our first ever BAC thrown fund raiser, we begin with gratitude. Thankful to God for all he has done for us, and thankful to you for being a part of the journey…won’t you join us this year? Put January 25-29 and April 28 on your calendar. WE NEED YOU!

How do we figure out the best way to seek excellence in the work we do AND meet needs that are sometimes extremely intense? Trusting God’s timing and having faith that you–the team–will come through AGAIN to make things happen.

How can we thank you? You make this journey of serving the Lord so much fun. Even when it’s crazy.

We NEED you again this January. The story was of a local man with brain cancer. The primary need was for a bathroom that could be used by a man in a wheel chair, which we certainly can do.

However, we met the family and it was very apparent God had different plans. The project immediately became focused on the devoted wife, who is suffering from the cancer that her husband had. She showed us the master bathroom. It has an enormous tub and shower that must be stepped up and then down into. For many, it would be a dream…but for this new widow, who has a bad back, it represents the possibility of slipping and hurting herself while she is alone.

Her husband passed away the week before Christmas. We will arrive the last week of January and show her God’s love the very best way we know how: SERVING. We told her when we met her that she matters to God.  We certainly could have helped her husband at the end if that was God’s timing, but His timing is for us to help her at the beginning of the life she did not ask for, but must face with dignity.

PLEASE sign up to help now. Our time to plan is limited by the holiday season, so any help simplifying is so appreciated! The simplest way to sign up for a shift is here on the website. Give if you can, serve if you are able, pray no matter what…THAT is how this crazy timing will become God’s bounty.

Merry Christmas.

The BAC Leadership Team

Family members gone, marriages that didn’t make it, kids somewhere else, aging parents…

I know many who felt that somewhere the spirit of Thanksgiving had been lost.

In my family, it feels like we are grieving the living.

My mother in law always remembers to be grateful. But she has forgotten almost everything else. She mostly remembers family; but forgets to bathe, change her clothes, what turkey looks like on a plate. My father in law always remembers what there is not to be grateful for, but is forgetting so many other things.

“They are all here for our anniversary, right?” he said, Thursday, as the kids were serving plates to the precious people at the home.

“We are all here for you, Dad.”

But their anniversary was months ago, and this was the celebration of Thanksgiving. Familiar turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole…but just so different. The years of aging have been hard fought…denial, demands and ultimately a diagnosis that forced two full lives to be upended and downsized and moved to a place that could be safe. We tell our kids to be willing to risk, but we tell our parents we need to make them safe. How do we find grace in the midst of difficult situations?

With THANKSGIVING.

Last Thanksgiving our friends were just getting used to  hearing the words, “Cancer.” One short year later a healthy mother, now cancer-free, had only one desire this holiday: To Serve.

And so her kids, dressed in holiday colors, served along side mine, handing plates to the residents so that they could be fed.

Before this holiday came, our friends’ beautiful daughter had loved on these people. She wrote them cards that said in little-girl print, “God loves you, and I do too.”

Months later, while we were moving tables to make them “family style” and bringing in pumpkins to make things festive, I see it. A gentleman’s name card, and slipped in it–behind the place holder that tells him every time he is fed where he belongs–a note with pink writing. “Is this one of yours?” I asked her.

Yes, it is. Her love has blessed a stranger friend three times a day since she freely gave it.

Because of this Thanksgiving, although there are no leftovers in the fridge and the memories are gone for those we loved and served, I will remember to be Thankful for the love that came before…and for friends and serving and grace…and for all of you.

It was one of our happier stories. We were reorganizing and redecorating a home for a family with triplet baby girls. We had a custom made, queen size crib to put in the largest bedroom that we (of course) painted pink. When Mary showed up to work we asked her if she knew how to “cut in” paint. She had no idea what we were talking about.

Cutting in is what you must do at the top of the wall to make the line straight around the room. A quality cut-in job makes the paint look professionally done. No paint on the ceiling and no roller streaks at the top of the wall are allowed; painting must be done with a brush and a steady hand. She was willing to try. She was great at it.

After that we saved the painting for her, and she knew it. She would show up to each project with her paint clothes on and her beautiful smile glowing, ready and willing to do whatever we needed. She has never missed a project since that bright pink room.

Yesterday she went home to be with the Lord, and I am heartbroken. From what I understand her cancer was discovered only weeks ago…and now she is in heaven.

Life is so short.

She was loved and cherished by us, and she knew it. Hello’s and good-byes were full of hugs and smiles, and catching up from the last project was always enjoyed. She was naturally positive and incredibly kind. She was loyal to her word.  She never signed up for a shift she could not be certain she could fill, but would say, “If I have time I will be back.” She often came back.

At the open house after the Brannum project finished, she was glowing. She knew she was a huge part of the very best that the body of Christ has to offer–community, faith and action. She was right.

I am certain I don’t tell you often enough what joy you bring to our hearts when you serve with us. You matter. Mary mattered. God still moves mountains. Sometimes He chooses to do so one volunteer at a time. Mary helped us move many, many mountains.

It never occured to me she wouldn’t be at the next project. I am so, so sad.

And so, as we enter into the week of THANKSGIVING, let me say with as much heartfelt sincerity as can be communicated through a computer screen, THANK YOU. Thank you for praying and showing up. Thank you for donating your time, talent and often treasures to this adventure of serving the Lord.

I will be praying for the precious Williams family, and I will be praying for you, and I will be praying that I never let the opportunity to let you know how much you mean to the leadership of this little ministry go by without thanking you.

Life is fleeting. What we do to serve Him lasts. Mary will always be remembered for the generous heart she shared with Brighten A Corner every chance she could. I will miss her terribly.

Ten and a half months of praying; the longing of time and space between us and the ever-present truth that he was at war was almost over.

The joy almost too much to bear.

“For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.” For a year, the 11th verse of the 91st Psalm was prayed over and over. My mother’s heart was aching for my precious son’s safety.

As it turns out, I am not good at having my children not with me. Add it to the list of so very many shortcomings, when my children are not in eye-sight I struggle to trust.

But God brought him home.

Long sleeps, hot meals, and holding hands saying grace were precious. Every moment was enjoyed. After a week of home, he said at the breakfast table, “I can’t eat it all. I don’t know why I am not hungry.”

I took a deep breath and silently prayed, “Dear Lord, let him be FULL; full of home and family, joy and peace, love and nurturing. Full of YOU.” And I could not help but wonder, did he notice that we are calmer? Did he feel that God has been working on us, so that we can love him better? Did he see us loving HIM more fully than in years past? Oh how precious and few the years are.

The years passed break my heart. The absence breaks my heart. Yet, the broken-ness of my heart, amazingly, has made more room for Him. When my heart was fully in tact, the walls were much closer together leaving precious little room. Now, however, the light escapes through the cracks and joy filters in through the brokenness.

Throwing myself into ministry projects and teaching Bible Study to numb the ache of a child’s absence has helped me remember that there is beauty in imperfection; climbing out of the pit of mother’s loneliness to serve brought light to me. Can I remember who I thought I was helping, teaching, “ministering” to? Yes, the people are dear and precious and cherished, but when I serve it is they who are allowing me to be healed.

Thank You, Lord, for carrying me through the season of a warrior son. Thank You for carrying him. I love YOU (and him) more for the journey.

He is back on base, in the United States. My son the Veteran, a great reason to remember.

Struggle and angst drove me to reignite the flames of being a book lover, and it has brought me tremendous information, quiet and peace. I have read biographies and novels; devotionals and Bible Studies; secular and nonsecular how to’s that have fed my desire to learn. I have sat on my front porch, or snuggled in bed with my girls as we all turned pages in our chosen pieces of literature.

Reading is a wonder-filled love we can pass on to our children.

One night my (then nine year old) daughter came into my bedroom and asked if she could borrow a highlighter pen. “I am getting ready to read my Bible,” she told us.

I smiled, handed her the pen, and reminded her I loved her. After she walked out I turned to my husband and said, “She gets that from me.”

Finally.

In nearly every other way my daughter delights in being just like her father. She is—to her core—a daddy’s girl…I love that about her, but I continue to pray that I show her (without words) she is first and foremost a DADDY’S girl. She is a precious daughter of the King.

Reading is a valuable part of teaching her that.

There is humility in reading; an acknowledgment that I can learn from some one else’ thoughts and ideas. Reading is challenging as I constantly evaluate if or how I am willing to apply new ideas to my life. Reading can beautiful, heartbreaking and hysterical. Reading allows me to see aspects of myself in third person through concepts or characters on a page. Strengthening those skills through books has brought fresh life to my study of God’s word. I am seeing direct application and new and wonderful ideas in seemingly random scriptures.

I never thought I would get so much out of 1 and 2 Kings, the books I am teaching in Tuesday Night Bible Study. I find myself laughing out loud at how relevant it is. Shocked! The ladies in the class patiently listen as I say over and over again, “Can you believe how that applies directly to today’s culture?”

Solomon said it, “There is nothing new under the sun.”

Books have just given me a new way to look at the nothing new that is under the sun. What a pleasure.

Every time I hear my children’s delight through laughter or squeals…I grab my camera. I want to remember why they laugh and squeal. I want to know what that looks like…so that I may live it with such abandon.

How do we let life go by so fast? Life is a beautiful, rich, fruit-filled pie that WILL be cut into pieces…with or without our permission. Remember the beauty.

“O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!” Psalm 34:8.

The only way to truly taste is to do something. Food doesn’t just fall in our mouths; a beautiful life doesn’t just happen. It takes intention. Purpose. Humility. Grace. Mixed with and by and for a God who loves abundantly.

Listen. The laughs of delight are there for you to see and hear and feel. Experience them fully, and remember.

Every parent of a special needs child faces the same decision: You either look for limitations, or you look for possibility.

When it is time for our kids to go to school, we hope/wish/pray that the teacher and the classroom will open up possibilities that we cannot achieve on our own.

Brighten A Corner’s next project gives us the privilege of creating possibility. We have been asked to upgrade and bring life to a classroom for young kids with moderate to severe special needs. The delightful, positive, dedicated teacher has done the best she can with what she has, but there is so much need.

She has 6 students in diapers, and a bathroom with no ventilation. The chairs don’t fit the tables. The storage is insufficient for the needs she has in order to be able to accommodate all 8 curriculums she is responsible for teaching. We can change all this, and do more. WHAT are the possibilities?

There are so many reasons I am excited about this project.

-It is one room that we totally dedicate ourselves to.                                                                                                                  -

-Special needs kids…VERY dear to my heart.

-The community of Los Osos is rallying behind the project.

-We may never actually know how many people we will help with this one project.

Do you believe that a classroom can change the life of a child? Do you believe that we can open the doors of possibility for kids who learn differently? Will you help?

This Thanksgiving week…Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday we will breathe life into the world of 8 delightful children and one fabulous teacher.

Join us with your time. Partner with us with your prayers. Support us with your donation.

We can not do it without you.

A lump in your throat, a lump in your oatmeal, and a lump in your breast are not the same thing.

Perspective. How I see things; how I process things; how I value things…THAT is my perspective. I am trying, searching, yearning, to align my perspective with that of my Lord. I want to know what HIS perspective is, and do everything I can to make His perspective mine.

I have studied enough of the Bible to know that His perspective is so, so big. And so, to have HIS perspective and not mine, I must always be asking what the big picture is. Because I almost never know, I constantly need to ask myself, “What COULD the big picture be here?” Sometimes in just brainstorming the possibilities I am energized and encouraged; sometimes just the process of opening my own eyes to the notion that what I originally wanted might not be what God originally wanted for me is exciting.

Perspective.

From checkbooks to calendars, how do I line up my perspective with that of my Lord? If I succeed in doing so, will my life be better? Will the fruit of those choices show me beyond measure that I am on the right track, HIS path, to godly living? To attempt to believe in that when things are not as I want them to be, is the heart beat of my life. Mine is a journey of desiring to be a good—no, great—steward of all (all, ALL, ALL) God has given me.

Let me SEE all that You have already gifted me with, Lord. Let me do exactly what YOU want me to with my time, my talent, my money, my stuff, my relationships, my ideas, my everything. Grow me into a person with YOUR perspective.

AMEN