Before You Read Brett's Newest Letter...

Ok... before you dive into Brett's newest letter, I wanted to share a few of my favorite lash and brow transformations from this past week. 😊

One of the things God has been teaching me over this last year and a half is that breakthrough rarely happens all at once.

More often...

it happens one small step of faith at a time.

One client.

One referral.

One encouraging conversation.

One answered prayer.

Looking back, it's incredible to see how this little lash and brow business has slowly become one of God's greatest provisions for our family.

Every appointment allows me to continue providing for Cambria, Willow, Lula, and Zion while Brett serves his sentence.

Every referral reminds me that God sees us.

Every woman I get to serve reminds me that beauty has a way of restoring confidence from the inside out.

I truly love what I do.

Helping women feel beautiful has become so much more than a job...

it's become a ministry of encouragement during one of the hardest seasons of my life.

If you've been thinking about getting a Korean Lash Lift, Lash Tint, Brow Lamination, or Brow Tint, I would absolutely LOVE to serve you.

✨ And the best part?

I come to you!

No salon.

No rushing across town.

Just a relaxing appointment in the comfort of your own home.

📱 Text me at 714-210-9014 if you'd like to book or have any questions.

And if you're not local, one of the biggest ways you can support our family is simply by sharing my name with a friend or family member in Orange County.

Every referral truly means more than you'll ever know.

Alright...

Enough about lashes. 😊

Go grab a tissue and read Brett's newest letter...

"Bitter or Better."

It's about two fathers separated from their children by prison...

who refused to let bitterness define their story.

Instead...

they chose to become better.

And I have a feeling it's going to encourage anyone who's walking through a season they never would have chosen.

Because no matter what life throws at us...

we always have a choice in who we become.

LOVE... ALWAYS... WINS. 💛

---

Bitter or Better

The paralyzing presence of shame pressures every one of us federal inmates to make a monumental decision throughout our prison journey.

Will we become...

BITTER...

or...

BETTER?

Unfortunately...

the vast majority of my fellow felons eventually surrender to the lies whispered into their ears by The Insidious Shadow of Shame.

Those relentless whispers slowly convince a hurting man that his life is over.

That he's too broken.

Too damaged.

Too far gone.

Too shameful to ever become the husband, father, son, or friend he longs to be.

And little by little...

bitterness quietly takes root inside his hurting heart.

It's heartbreaking to witness.

BUT...

My dear friend and current cellie, "The Networker," is one of the extraordinary few who CHOSE a different road.

Instead of allowing shame to make him bitter...

he chose to become BETTER.

Every single day, this devoted father intentionally chooses to become a wiser man...

a humbler man...

a more grateful man...

because he knows there is a precious ten-year-old boy waiting for him on the other side of these razor-sharp prison fences.

"The Networker" refuses to allow prison to become the final chapter of his story.

Instead he has decided to let it become the classroom that shapes him into the father his son deserves.

Coincidentally...

"The Networker's" incredible little boy and my sweet angel princess Lula actually share the exact same birthday.

So, instead of sulking in the BITTER reality of imprisonment and the soul-sucking separation from our cherished children...

"The Networker" and I sat shoulder to shoulder inside our little cement cell and chose to become BETTER DADS.

Together we carefully wrote two hope-filled birthday letters to the children we love more than life itself.

Think about that for a second.

Two convicted criminals...

sitting inside a federal prison...

pouring every ounce of unconditional love they possess onto two simple sheets of paper.

These handwritten letters will somehow transcend the prison walls that currently confine us and remind two precious children something every son and daughter desperately longs to know:

Your Dad loves you.

More than words could ever describe.

YES,  we devoted fathers battle the crushing reality of physical separation from our children every single day.

We silently grieve birthdays...

holidays...

school events...

bedtime hugs...

and all the little moments most parents naturally take for granted.

There are nights when the pain feels almost unbearable.

BUT...

Our GREAT and MERCIFUL God has compassionately transformed our silent tears into focused fuel.

Instead of allowing our sorrow to destroy us...

He is using it to shape us.

To humble us.

To refine us.

To prepare us to build a BIG, BRIGHT, and BEAUTIFUL future for the children we love.

I'm honored to share a small cement cell with my barbwire brother "The Networker."

Because in a place built to punish a person for their questionable past...

he chose to become BETTER.

And every day I get a front-row seat to watch God transform this remarkable father into the man he was always created to be.

The truth is because of our broken human condition...

every single one of us will eventually face a season of struggle.

Maybe it won't be prison.

Maybe it'll be illness.

Loss.

Failure.

Addiction.

Broken relationships.

Financial hardship.

Or a completely different valley altogether.

But eventually...

life has a way of bringing every one of us to our knees.

When that day comes...

we'll all face the very same question:

Will this season make me BITTER...

or BETTER?

The beautiful thing about following Jesus is this:

Our grace-filled God never wastes our pain.

He lovingly gives each one of us the opportunity to become BETTER through the very circumstances we never would have chosen for ourselves.

Honestly...

I truly consider myself a blessed man to have experienced incarceration inside a federal prison.

I know that probably sounds crazy.

But these brick walls...

these prison hallways...

these barbwire brothers...

and this surreal journey have shaped me into a BETTER husband...

a BETTER father...

a BETTER son...

a BETTER friend...

and I pray...

a BETTER follower of Jesus Christ.

Because of His redeeming blood...

my shame-filled story has been transformed into something BETTER than I ever could have imagined.

Oh...

one last thing.

Once "The Networker's" ten-year-old son finished reading every heartfelt word his devoted father had written...

that little boy spent the rest of his birthday walking up to each person at his party...

gently tapping them on the shoulder...

holding up his dad's letter...

and proudly proclaiming:

"Check out this awesome birthday card from my Dad... I'M HIS BOY... AND HE LOVES ME!!!"

Can you imagine that?

That little boy wasn't thinking about prison.

He wasn't thinking about shame.

He wasn't thinking about his father's mistakes.

He was simply overwhelmed by one beautiful truth:

"I'm his boy... and he loves me."

I have a feeling our Heavenly Father smiles every time one of His children discovers that exact same truth.

God dances in delight when we choose to become BETTER instead of bitter.

"The Networker's" tear-soaked birthday letter to his precious son once again proves that...

LOVE... ALWAYS... WINS

With so much thankfulness,

Brett
(A convicted criminal who gets to become BETTER behind razor-sharp barbed wire.)

---

A Note From Noél

In a place that tends to boil over with bitterness, my husband CHOSE to carry overflowing hope in his heart, and now the fruit of that hope is beginning to blossom all around him.

Because Brett made the intentional decision to become BETTER throughout his prison journey, other inmates like "The Networker" are finding the courage to pursue their own purpose-driven path behind razor-sharp barbed wire.

"The Networker" chose to shower his son in LOVE despite the crushing reality of a lengthy federal prison sentence.

It's these seemingly small but incredibly intentional decisions that have the power to change the trajectory of an entire family.

They create space for God to redeem what the enemy desperately tried to destroy.

One thing I've come to realize over these last few years is that the enemy absolutely loves to attack families.

He delights in division.

He delights in isolation.

He delights in shame.

And prison can become one of his greatest weapons.

Because if he can convince a father that he's too broken...

If he can convince a mother that there's no hope...

If he can convince children that they have been abandoned...

Then he doesn't just wound one person.

He wounds an entire family for generations.

BUT...

I'm so incredibly proud of these men who wake up every single day and continue fighting for their families.

They continue fighting for their children.

They continue writing letters.

Making phone calls.

Praying.

Growing.

Healing.

Learning.

Choosing hope over hopelessness.

Choosing love over shame.

Choosing BETTER instead of bitter.

Does that mean they're perfect?

Absolutely not.

None of us are.

It simply means they've refused to let the darkest chapter of their lives become the final chapter of their story.

And every single time one of these fathers chooses to love instead of giving up...

God wins.

Every time a dad writes another birthday letter...

God wins.

Every time shame whispers, "Your family would be better off without you," and they choose to keep fighting anyway...

God wins.

Every time a child knows without a shadow of a doubt...

"I'm his boy... and he loves me."

God wins.

The enemy does NOT get the final word over these families.

I tell my own children all the time that life can throw some incredibly hard things our way.

Things we never asked for.

Things we never would have chosen.

Things that can leave us feeling completely overwhelmed.

But in those moments...

we still have a choice.

We can allow hardship to define us.

Or we can allow God to refine us.

We can become bitter.

Or we can become better.

We can keep our eyes fixed on the storm...

Or we can keep our eyes fully fixed on Jesus.

I don't believe for one second that God desired this prison journey for our family.

But what I know with absolute certainty is this:

He has never wasted a single tear.

He has never left our side.

And He continues to bring breathtaking beauty from places that once felt impossibly broken.

Only God can do that.

So if today feels especially heavy...

If you're walking through a season you never imagined...

If you're wondering whether you'll ever see light again...

Please keep your eyes on Him.

He's walking beside you every single step.

Don't let the enemy convince you that your story is over.

Don't let shame speak louder than God's promises.

Declare life over yourself.

Declare hope over your family.

Declare truth over your children.

And remember that our gracious Heavenly Father is still writing your story.

He is still redeeming.

He is still restoring.

He is still making all things new.

I'm beyond PROUD of Brett and his band of barbed wire brothers for choosing to become BETTER instead of bitter while living inside the pit of prison.

And when "The Networker's" precious ten-year-old son proudly declared,

"I'm his boy... and he loves me."

I completely lost it.

Because that little sentence is exactly what every one of us longs to know.

Not just from our earthly fathers...

But from our Heavenly Father.

His beautiful connection with his son continues to prove that...

LOVE... ALWAYS... WINS.

With so much LOVE,

Noél
(A PROUD prison wife who can't wait to have all of Brett's barbed wire brothers over for a delicious dinner someday.)