Ramona Soileau (left, with Catrina White) has been volunteering at Advance Memphis for about a year. She serves as a small group leader--just a few hours a month--but those hours greatly affect the women with whom she meets. Ramona has blessed our students, and been blessed herself, by being an ambassador for Christ's love. Here are her thoughts on her experiences before and after volunteering at Advance:I, for one, am overwhelmed by the destruction portrayed on the 6 o'clock news. I oscillate between disbelief and apathy. My own demanding responsibilities leave me weary at times and I certainly have no extra energy reserves to channel toward hopeless situations. Who am I to stand against the avalanche of such despair? Exhausted from my own treadmill of endless "to do" lists, I feel powerless to affect a culture bent on self -destruction.
Then I met Christie and Tangie, two students at Advance. They struggled to overcome many issues but mostly with rewriting the messages of worthlessness and mediocrity stamped in them from birth. I was privileged to witness the birth of a miracle -- prayer, encouragement, and the gospel gave rise to a new song full of hope and promise to their thirsty souls. The music echoed in my heart as well.
We are not meant to be reservoirs of God's goodness, damned up rivers of life, but rather conduits of His mercy, streams of refreshment. His Spirit is too great to be contained and must flow through us to other vessels. By sharing His freedom, we find meaning, purpose and strength for ourselves as well. We find the rich life we were meant to live all along.
"...pressed down, shaken together, and running over." Luke 6: 38
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