Three simple words that have completely dominated my week this week. BE THE LIGHT.
Seems easy, right?
Mark 5:16 says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Okay, no problem!
This week I traveled with 34 others to Harlan, Kentucky to spend the week with Appalachia Service Project (ASP) working to make homes warmer, safer, and drier for families in need. On the surface, that seems like an easy way to check off the may your good deeds glorify your father in heaven portion of Mark. But it turns out that helping others—and being the light—can be harder than it sounds.
Teams spent hours learning brand-new skills to be able to roof houses, lay insulation, and replace siding this week. I learned how to replace a ceiling and hang drywall. As a STEM teacher, I am great at reading books to my students about construction and architecture, but to actually hang a piece of drywall—That is not my gift!
Spending a week totally out of your comfort zone makes doing good deeds feel more like stumbling in the dark. And believe me there were plenty of moments I felt that way.
But when I look back on each day in Harlan it is not the confusion or imperfections I remember. It’s not the moments I didn’t know what I was doing. I think about watching youth I’ve known since their Sunday School years step into leadership roles, now as young adults, encouraging me and teaching me how to build a wall.
I think about members of our congregation—some I rarely see because we attend different services—coming together to move rolls of roofing materials down hills to their housing project. I think about holding up a sheet of drywall while my own son, now one of those young adults, screws it into place, building a ceiling for the very first time, alongside me. And I think about the families we’re helping—building four new bedrooms so their children will have warm, safe beds to sleep in.
Sometimes it’s easier to focus on the darkness when you are doing hard things. But it turns out, it’s the Light that transforms the darkness. And without darkness, we wouldn’t even recognize the need for light.
And this week I watched 34 people BE the LIGHT—through hard work, sweat, and unconditional love—and it made us shine even BRIGHTER.
Living, sharing, and celebrating!
Danielle Beneteau