The summer of 2013 I was a volunteer at a non-profit Christian organization called the Sophie House. The Sophie House was founded by Kimberly Tillem and it's mission is to: "Provide housing, healing, encouragement and hope for women and children." While I was a volunteer, I worked under Cathe Myers.
That summer changed my life. I came in with a desire to do something different with my summer and left with a new view on who God was and how I should live as a Child of His. Throughout the summer, I helped stock the food pantry and sort through donations. I hung clothes and did odds and ends. Mostly though, I just observed Cathe.
Women and families would come in and Cathe would listen to them. She ministered and prayed expectantly. She knew that God was going to act in big ways.....and He did!
I saw her lay hands on someone who was physically hurting and pray over them and their pain would disappear. In that, I came to believe in the power of prayer and miracles.
I heard her say just what people needed to hear, at just the moment they needed to hear it. In that, I came to believe in the power of a timely word.
I felt how she would enter a room and people would instantly be put at ease. In that, I came to understand the power of a Godly woman.
She set the example of what a Godly woman should look like. She did something people rarely do....she didn't just listen to what people said, she heard what they might not verbally say.
The Sophie House became a place I could come and feel at home. I could work hard or just sit and listen. As time passed, I became more familiar with the people that came in to the Sophie House. I felt comfortable praying for people. My faith came alive!
When my family walked through a desert time, it was the people at the Sophie House that made me feel welcome. They reaffirmed me and prayed for me.
In a few weeks, the Sophie House will be destroyed in order to make room for a new sanctuary that the Church wants that the Sophie House sits on. It is a bittersweet feeling indeed.
No one is quite sure what will happen beyond the building we have currently. Since my time there, the Sophie House has changed operators and has grown in leaps and bounds. God has been good and faithful. He will continue to be.
I am coming to realize that though the building gave me a place to go, it was the people that made it special.
Regardless of whether the Sophie House relocates at some point, takes a new form, or ceases to exist, I will not forget the things I learned through the people there. I will not forget the ways I grew in my faith. I will not forget what I saw God do!
"But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren." Deuteronomy 4:9
