"I finished something. I graduated."
Those are the triumphant words of Rickey Brown, a graduate of the Gateway Program at Village Oaks after 2 years. He is moving on to the "Shelter Plus" Program in North Dallas.
He quotes Romans 8:28: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose."
He came to Village Oaks with nothing but his backpack. "Now I gotta get a U-Haul truck!"
He came weighed down after years in the grip of drugs and alcohol. "The elephant got lifted off my shoulders!"
He came without spiritual sight. "Scales came off and I can see now. And I'm seein' good things."
Rickey has gotten a taste of abundance. Literally, in one case. He won the raffle at our holiday party--a turkey dinner. For 12 people. "I was eating really well...well after New Year's."
But it's the abundance on the inside that Rickey talks about the most. He says he "stepped into" the abundant life. He talks about his last conversations with his mother as she was dying. He made some big decisions in those days following her death.
Rickey's been to the bottom. "I've been down already. I'm tryin' to go up."
Congratulations, Rickey, on your graduation. That's a big accomplishment. May God continue to work all things together for your good.
-- Dean Wilson
