While the House of Shine has big goals and dreams, it really is a website that celebrates and honors small.

Small and simple pleasures, like the Easter Egg hunt we featured last week.

Small gestures of generosity, like taking the time to decorate your mailbox for the postman. 

And small, every day observations that pack big meaning, like a cardboard box in the corner of Starbucks.

Of course, our affinity for small should not be confused with our conviction that these small things make a big difference.

Naturally, the Yellow Envelope Project is an extension of our love affair with small and our appreciation for big. Readers from around the country agree to complete one small, but generous, act a week. Send a letter in a yellow envelope. But, when all of our small acts are combined, the difference we make in someone's life is BIG.

How appropriate then that this grandmother should be the recipient of this week's Yellow Envelope Project. Read what her granddaughter (an nominator) had to say:

"My grandmother has held a job since she was 12 years old. She is the oldest child of seven and helped her mother take care of every single one of them. Once her mother became sick and old she took care of her when none of the other siblings would. She has worked to give back to her community, mainly through the church by working in the nursery and helping with vacation bible school. Her second husband had a wreck a month after they married and suffered from a severe head injury. He has a mind of a seven year old and when every doctor told her to leave him she stood by her commitment and still takes care of him today. She was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and lupus in her early 40s. Despite her sickness and hardships she tries so hard to stay positive and help anyone she can. Though now she is very sick and can not get out of bed for days and is all alone since she lives far into the country. Her depression comes and goes and she tries to be thankful if she can at least walk on a good day. She is committed, hard working, and strong willed. I wish I could visit her more often, but I fear she will not be around for much longer and I would love for her to feel a bit of shine in her life again. To let her know it was truly worth it." 

It strikes me that E. Chenault has spent her life committing one small act of generosity after another, for a small but meaningful community of people. But, now that she is getting older, small tasks seem to be requiring bigger effort. Sometimes more effort than she has. Especially when it seems E. Chenault is tired and weary and maybe feeling a little blue.

Which is exactly why we need to treat her to a big - not small - dose of YELLOW! Yellow envelopes.

It's easy. Simply write E. Chenault a short, but anonymous, letter of gratitude. Thank her for setting an example and being a source of light for her family and her community. Maybe even thank E. Chenault for being such an invaluable role model, that through her, her granddaughter, has learned what kind of person she wants to be.

Then, seal your note in a yellow envelope (or white envelope decorated with yellow stickers and markers) and write, "Yellow Envelope Project" in place of your return address. One last step. Commit to mailing your note to the address listed below, sometime before we meet again next week.

Shining off until Monday.