The Gift of Failing

I love summer.

I love having my kids home. I love the heat, and the play, and the imagination and the pace. In my world, summer is slower.

During the school year there are simply more miles put on the van! We live 4 miles out of Santa Margarita. My youngest goes to school 5 days a week in Atascadero. My middle is in a (fabulous) partial home-school academy in San Luis three days a week. There are sports teams, and youth groups, and therapies, and in-laws and, and, and…Things just speed up.

The summer brings more time to think, reflect and read. Much of my reading this summer is to help Brighten A Corner.

I have realized that up to this point in our history, we have been a good ministry. God has been extremely gracious to us…He has held our hand, built our faith, filled in the gaps and kept us together. It is miraculous!

Honestly, there is tremendously genuine affection within the leadership team. We are rooting for each other and for our families! Where else does that happen, when the focus is not on fun? However, as grateful and humbled as I am by the past, as I look to the future, I have one recurring thought:

We need to become a great ministry.

I came across a quote from Ronald Reagan recently, that inspires me for Brighten A Corner:

The explorers of the modern era are the entrepreneurs, men and women with vision, with the courage to take risks and faith enough to brave the unknown. These entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States…Some people look at the riot of experiment that is the free market and see only waste. What of all the entrepreneurs that fail? Well, many do, particularly the successful ones; often several times. And if you ask them the secret of their success, they’ll tell you it’s all that they learned in their struggles along the way; yes, it’s what they learned from failing. Like an athlete in competition or a scholar in pursuit of the truth, experience is the greatest teacher.

Now, I want to edit it and apply it to us:

The explorers of the modern era are the Spirit-led Christians, men and women with vision, with the courage to take risks and faith enough to brave the unknown. These entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the spiritual growth in the United States…Some people look at the riot of experiment that is the free market and see only waste. What of all the ministries that fail? Well, many do, particularly the successful ones; often several times. And if you ask them the secret of their success, they’ll tell you it’s all that they learned in their struggles along the way; yes, it’s what they learned from failing. Like an athlete in competition or a scholar in pursuit of the truth, experience is the greatest teacher.

I believe that the forward progress in the cultural fiber of this nation will not be forged on television or even in the churches. It will be a trail blazed by men and women who are humble enough to be imperfect, and brave enough to be so in public.

Brighten A Corner is the melting pot of imperfection.

Imperfect people bring their stories to us; imperfect people then make a plan to help; imperfect people then show up to work; all to honor a perfect God.
There is a growing list of things we are committed to doing better in the future. AND, praise God, there is a formulating plan of how to do so. Once we make it through this transition, our failures will ultimately be our greatest gift.

Are you feeling a gentle nudge by God to serve Him more? We are planning several different levels of commitment in Leadership Teams to help us move forward more effectively and efficiently. Don’t say “I am not a leader.”

Ask ONLY “Is God calling me?” If so contact [email protected]!

Our future is bright!