More Than We Can Ask or Imagine
Eight hours—several spent in the car driving to and from Wrigley Field, and the others spent cheering on the Chicago Cubs. During those eight hours, a bond develops between a mentor and his mentee. Conversations deepen. Two men discuss life, challenges, regrets, and regardless of the stark differences in their backgrounds, respect and trust prevail. This is just one story of many where our volunteers go far beyond what we could ever ask. When volunteers step into this space, we don’t ask them to pick up their mentee and take them to eye exams, doctor’s appointments, or the store. We don’t ask them to spend hours on nature walks, luncheons, or shopping for Mother’s Day gifts. Nor would we expect a mentor to call area hospitals and the police when her mentee, a homeless twenty-something-year-old, goes missing. Yet time and time again, we learn of the extraordinary ways in which our volunteers bring Christ’s presence into the lives of others. Whether it is printing baby onesies on a Cricut machine or reviewing somatic exercises for the reduction of pain during labor, our volunteers embody Christ’s love in action. For many, their connections grow so strong that invitations to weddings, birthday parties, baby showers—invitations into another’s story—are a natural progression of their relationships. RETA’s volunteers are truly a blessing beyond imagination.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,” (Ephesians 3:20).