Have you ever loved doing something so much that it breaks your heart to leave it behind?
I love the jail ministry, and I loved the opportunity that I had this summer to go in every Sunday. I loved the people in jail, and I loved the people in the jail ministry. Oh yes, we had our ups and downs, it wasn't perfect, but it was a place that I could go and love and be loved. It was a place where I could go and minister to people who were hungry for the Word and I felt needed.
Over the process of the summer, there were many times that going to jail on Sunday morning was the highlight of my week. If I was having problems with something or it just seemed like nothing was going right, I could go to jail, put those things in the back of my mind and it was there that I focused on others.
So today was my last day with those people. We started as usual in "F block" the lock down block, where the guys are locked in their cells for 23 out of 24 hours a day. These guys are either the maximum security, or the guys that got in trouble in jail. Peggy and I played kinda a prelude of "Amazing Grace" and "Jesus, I am Resting, Resting," me on the cello and Peggy on the keyboard. Then we sang a song and Rick preached from Luke 15 about the Prodigal Son. Not only did he talk about the prodigal, but also about the older brother who was a self righteous holier than thou, and how really in the end it was the prodigal son who got saved, and as far as we know the older brother never got saved! He talked about how it is so important to make sure that what we are doing is for God and not for show!
The next service was in the chapel and it was the men. Again Peggy and I played a prelude. We had baptisms this morning. Three guys got baptized and one rededicated his life. John really spent time going over baptism and how it isn't what gets you saved, etc. One of the men who got baptized was absolutely glowing with the filling of the Holy Spirit! The look on his face was amazing, I don't think I will ever forget that look of the presence of God! His story is really neat too. He has had a horrible life, I'm not really sure all that has been involved, but he had been living a wicked life. He ended up in our county jail, and his wife is in a county jail north of here. God started working in his heart here, and unknown to him, God was also working in his wife's heart! Both are now saved, and once they get out of jail they are planning on living their lives for the Lord! That is so exciting! On their way out, most of the guys told me good-bye and a few even hugged me!
There were a lot of ladies that came to the service! Again the whole prelude thing, and then John asked that I tell the ladies why I was leaving and where I was going, etc., so I did. Then Rick preached, in both F Block and the ladies service he had Peggy and I read the Scripture, that was really neat. I'm gonna miss the ladies a lot!
After the services are over those of us who go into the jail always talk it over, talk about the things that went well, what could have been improved, etc. and then we pray. During this time Rick brought up the fact that he had enjoyed having me come in and then he informed me that I'm the only one who goes in that is under 50!! That made me feel REALLY young!
I'm gonna miss the jail so much while I'm at college, and I can't wait to go back again!
Showing posts with label jail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jail. Show all posts
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
My Wonderful Week By Myself!
This past week my family deserted me for parts unknown. Well, actually they deserted me for Wisconsin! So I spent 8 wonderful days ALL BY MYSELF! :) Let me tell you, it was a very nice experience. :)
Sunday morning I spent as usual in the jail. It was kinda interesting cuz Peggy was gone and I didn't know that before hand, so there was no keyboard, or anything to accompany the music, and naturally, since Peggy wasn't there, I was put in charge of the music. That was interesting. On top of that John put me on the spot and had me sing a solo, OCAPELLA!!!!! AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! When he first told me to do it, I just stared at him like he was a fish out of water, then I said, in a very scared/shocked voice, "Are you serious??!!" He said, "Yeah, you can do it!" I was like, "Uh, ok...." So I did it! UGH! Everyone said it was really nice, whatever! Sunday night was the "premier" of "Israel 101," the big graphic design project that I was working on this summer. I hadn't seen the finished project up until then, and I thought it was really nice! Dave Ditton, who was the guy who took my graphic work and put it all together on the DVD, and I were trying to figure out how many hours combined just the 2 of us put into it, and we figured it was over 200 hours! That's not including everyone else! Talk about craziness! All of that for a presentation that is just over an hour long! It was a lot of work, but well worth it, and I know that through the hours upon hours that i put into it, that I was able to learn a lot about Israel.
Monday and Tuesday were spent going through all of the stuff that I brought back from college last year and figuring out what I wanted to take with me to Shawnee this year, and what I didn't, and what needed to just be thrown away, etc. I can tell you this much, I know that I'm not taking nearly as much stuff with me this year as I took last year! I well remember how packed the minivan was when I went to NY!! LOL! Fond memories...
On Wednesday I had a show, and sold a Rainbow!! I was THRILLED!! :)
Thursday I drove an hour to go to a show and didn't sell a Rainbow...sigh...Oh well, it was a nice day, so it was a nice drive....
Friday I finished up my first scrapbook, it's not very good, but I enjoyed doing it, and I think that I will continue working on those skills! :) I like doing it cuz I can be scrap booking and watching a movie, or talking on the phone, or doing a million other things! I hate just doing one thing at a time, my mind moves too fast I guess...I don't know, maybe I'm just crazy! :) Oh yeah, I got to talk to Jason on Friday night, which of course was WONDERFUL! :)
Saturday I cleaned up the house and then my family got home about 9 at night! I got a box in the mail from Jason as well, and that totally made my day!
It was really nice to have those few days to myself. I got some extra Bible reading done, and lots of time to pray! I was more than ready to have my family come home because during the week a really good friend of mine's mom died, and I had gone to the viewing and stuff by myself, and some other things had happened, and I just needed a really big hug!
Sunday morning I spent as usual in the jail. It was kinda interesting cuz Peggy was gone and I didn't know that before hand, so there was no keyboard, or anything to accompany the music, and naturally, since Peggy wasn't there, I was put in charge of the music. That was interesting. On top of that John put me on the spot and had me sing a solo, OCAPELLA!!!!! AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! When he first told me to do it, I just stared at him like he was a fish out of water, then I said, in a very scared/shocked voice, "Are you serious??!!" He said, "Yeah, you can do it!" I was like, "Uh, ok...." So I did it! UGH! Everyone said it was really nice, whatever! Sunday night was the "premier" of "Israel 101," the big graphic design project that I was working on this summer. I hadn't seen the finished project up until then, and I thought it was really nice! Dave Ditton, who was the guy who took my graphic work and put it all together on the DVD, and I were trying to figure out how many hours combined just the 2 of us put into it, and we figured it was over 200 hours! That's not including everyone else! Talk about craziness! All of that for a presentation that is just over an hour long! It was a lot of work, but well worth it, and I know that through the hours upon hours that i put into it, that I was able to learn a lot about Israel.
Monday and Tuesday were spent going through all of the stuff that I brought back from college last year and figuring out what I wanted to take with me to Shawnee this year, and what I didn't, and what needed to just be thrown away, etc. I can tell you this much, I know that I'm not taking nearly as much stuff with me this year as I took last year! I well remember how packed the minivan was when I went to NY!! LOL! Fond memories...
On Wednesday I had a show, and sold a Rainbow!! I was THRILLED!! :)
Thursday I drove an hour to go to a show and didn't sell a Rainbow...sigh...Oh well, it was a nice day, so it was a nice drive....
Friday I finished up my first scrapbook, it's not very good, but I enjoyed doing it, and I think that I will continue working on those skills! :) I like doing it cuz I can be scrap booking and watching a movie, or talking on the phone, or doing a million other things! I hate just doing one thing at a time, my mind moves too fast I guess...I don't know, maybe I'm just crazy! :) Oh yeah, I got to talk to Jason on Friday night, which of course was WONDERFUL! :)
Saturday I cleaned up the house and then my family got home about 9 at night! I got a box in the mail from Jason as well, and that totally made my day!
It was really nice to have those few days to myself. I got some extra Bible reading done, and lots of time to pray! I was more than ready to have my family come home because during the week a really good friend of mine's mom died, and I had gone to the viewing and stuff by myself, and some other things had happened, and I just needed a really big hug!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Life in the Fast Lane
Ok, I know that if I put every little detail about my week down in writing it will take a LOOOOONG time! So, I will just briefly sum up each day.
Thursday I worked for Wes in the morning and in the evening I attempted to sell a vacuum! It came SOOOOO close! Seriously, I'm still trying to figure out why in the world I didn't sell one! At the end of our shows we almost always do a "phone closing" where we call some of our bosses and they will talk to us and sometimes the customer, and they can a lot of times convince the customer to buy. Ben and Krista were already really close, then I called Matt, who is the manager of the store in Valpo. He talked to Ben, and got him even more interested. After the phone call Ben all of a sudden decided he didn't want to do it! UGH!! Soooo, no sale. It's too bad cuz that would have been my first sale on my own. It was so close that Matt called me while I was on my way home asking if had done all of the paper work! Neither one of us are sure what happened! :(
Friday got really exciting! All day it had been stormy and yucky! We were, at the least, under a severe thunderstorm watch all day, and a couple of times it elevated to warnings, and tornado watches. Nothing new for Northern Indiana, it happens all the time. I was supposed to go to South Bend in the evening to do a show. Where I was going in S. Bend was about an hour away. I really didn't want to drive up there all by myself in the wacky weather. So, I talked to the people at Rainbow and they said that Damon could go with me. I was very relieved. We were supposed to meet at the office at 5 and then proceed to S. Bend. As I was leaving home dad called and said that there was a tornado in Mentone, which is about 6 or 7 miles from us! Oh well, I had a show to go on. So, I got to the office and the tornado sirens were going off when I got out of my vehicle. Creepy. Soon after we left the office I looked in my rear view mirror and saw the storm that had gone over us, it was BLACK! We didn't sell a vacuum, nor did we even show it, which is a really long story.
I went to the jail Bible study Saturday morning, but had to leave early cuz I had a show in Logansport, which is about 1 1/5 hours south of us. Damon went on this one with me as well. We did sell a vacuum which was WONDERFUL!! PTL!! Then Damon, bless his heart, drove a few miles further south and went to Kokomo and stopped at Dunkin Donuts for me!! YAY!! I got a large iced latte, with whipped cream, of course, and totally enjoyed it! ...sigh... We got back about 5:30 and I went to the Hampton Inn in Warsaw where Wes was showing the PowerPoint to a group of his friends so that they could critique it! UGH! It would have been one thing if these were all people who understood what you can and can't do in graphic design, but most of them weren't! There were only 2 people there, mom, and a recording engineer, who understood. I only got in on the last half of the presentation, which was actually a good thing, cuz if I had been there the whole time I would have been crying! By Saturday I had only gotten about 14 hours of sleep the entire week, cuz I was trying to get this project completed for Wes, and then to have people who had NO idea what they were talking about critique it, well, lets just say I was slightly frazzled!
I went into the jail on Sunday morning. It was really good. Unfortunately one guy, Michael, who is actually one of my former bus kids and neighbors was in the solitary confinement cuz he had been wrestling! I told him I was gonna smack him for doing that, but I couldn't cuz he was locked into his cell. Pray for him, he has a lot of potential. We had several people over for Sunday dinner since it was Father's Day. That was fun.
I took yesterday off. I did NOTHING when it comes to work. YAY! At 6:3o there was an open house for Rainbow, so I did go to that, but there was really no work involved there!
Today it is nice and hot and sunny!! I was outside for a loooong time, just enjoying the sun! :) I also did a little bit of mowing, which was fun cuz I haven't mowed at all this year!!
Thursday I worked for Wes in the morning and in the evening I attempted to sell a vacuum! It came SOOOOO close! Seriously, I'm still trying to figure out why in the world I didn't sell one! At the end of our shows we almost always do a "phone closing" where we call some of our bosses and they will talk to us and sometimes the customer, and they can a lot of times convince the customer to buy. Ben and Krista were already really close, then I called Matt, who is the manager of the store in Valpo. He talked to Ben, and got him even more interested. After the phone call Ben all of a sudden decided he didn't want to do it! UGH!! Soooo, no sale. It's too bad cuz that would have been my first sale on my own. It was so close that Matt called me while I was on my way home asking if had done all of the paper work! Neither one of us are sure what happened! :(
Friday got really exciting! All day it had been stormy and yucky! We were, at the least, under a severe thunderstorm watch all day, and a couple of times it elevated to warnings, and tornado watches. Nothing new for Northern Indiana, it happens all the time. I was supposed to go to South Bend in the evening to do a show. Where I was going in S. Bend was about an hour away. I really didn't want to drive up there all by myself in the wacky weather. So, I talked to the people at Rainbow and they said that Damon could go with me. I was very relieved. We were supposed to meet at the office at 5 and then proceed to S. Bend. As I was leaving home dad called and said that there was a tornado in Mentone, which is about 6 or 7 miles from us! Oh well, I had a show to go on. So, I got to the office and the tornado sirens were going off when I got out of my vehicle. Creepy. Soon after we left the office I looked in my rear view mirror and saw the storm that had gone over us, it was BLACK! We didn't sell a vacuum, nor did we even show it, which is a really long story.
I went to the jail Bible study Saturday morning, but had to leave early cuz I had a show in Logansport, which is about 1 1/5 hours south of us. Damon went on this one with me as well. We did sell a vacuum which was WONDERFUL!! PTL!! Then Damon, bless his heart, drove a few miles further south and went to Kokomo and stopped at Dunkin Donuts for me!! YAY!! I got a large iced latte, with whipped cream, of course, and totally enjoyed it! ...sigh... We got back about 5:30 and I went to the Hampton Inn in Warsaw where Wes was showing the PowerPoint to a group of his friends so that they could critique it! UGH! It would have been one thing if these were all people who understood what you can and can't do in graphic design, but most of them weren't! There were only 2 people there, mom, and a recording engineer, who understood. I only got in on the last half of the presentation, which was actually a good thing, cuz if I had been there the whole time I would have been crying! By Saturday I had only gotten about 14 hours of sleep the entire week, cuz I was trying to get this project completed for Wes, and then to have people who had NO idea what they were talking about critique it, well, lets just say I was slightly frazzled!
I went into the jail on Sunday morning. It was really good. Unfortunately one guy, Michael, who is actually one of my former bus kids and neighbors was in the solitary confinement cuz he had been wrestling! I told him I was gonna smack him for doing that, but I couldn't cuz he was locked into his cell. Pray for him, he has a lot of potential. We had several people over for Sunday dinner since it was Father's Day. That was fun.
I took yesterday off. I did NOTHING when it comes to work. YAY! At 6:3o there was an open house for Rainbow, so I did go to that, but there was really no work involved there!
Today it is nice and hot and sunny!! I was outside for a loooong time, just enjoying the sun! :) I also did a little bit of mowing, which was fun cuz I haven't mowed at all this year!!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Weekends Are Supposed to be for Resting!!
Sooo....I've been BUSY to say the least!
Friday was another day where I slept in, without anything that I HAD to do early. In the afternoon I made dirt pudding, which is chocolate pudding, butter, cream cheese, and milk mixed together and then layered with crushed Oreos! It is really good stuff, but I can't eat it which is sad! I made it for the Bible study that is held on Friday nights for families of people in jail, ex convicts, and really anyone who wants to come. It did go over REALLY well! :)
Mom and I went to the Saturday morning jail ministry team meeting. It went well. I was planning on going in on Sunday, which was all well and good until I found out that the regular pianist (also my former piano teacher) was going to be out of town! UGH! That meant that I had to play, I haven't played the piano in several months, there just hasn't been time! So, not only did I have to play the piano, but I also had to accompany a guy who was singing, which was fine cuz he was just singing out of the piano. Plus, I was told that I would be helping with what would be done with the speaking in the ladies block, I wasn't feeling well, and so it seemed REALLY overwhelming!!
I had a HUGE blessing on Saturday! :) At the jail meeting some how I had made the comment that I had found a job, but I would also like to get another job as well. One of the men on the jail team, Wes Smith, who has a whole bunch of ministries, mainly involving the end times and prophecy, asked if I was good on the computer. I was like, "Uh, yes." He said, "I'm wanting a presentation that I can show at churches of pictures from Israel that I have taken, etc. Do you know how to do things like that?" I said, "Yes!" The discussion went really well from there, and I'm hired! I have a meeting with him tomorrow to begin the work! YAY!!
Saturday afternoon we went to a high school graduation party for a friend of ours. I grew up with him, and we had a lot of fun! On our way home from that Samuel and I stopped to see another friend. He is trying to sell a pick-up truck, and jokingly tried to sell it to me!! :-P He did let me drive it, which was fun! :)
Saturday night we went to a friends high school graduation. I grew up with Brent and his older brother, Bobby and I haven't seen them in ages. Bobby went to college at Pensacola Christian College, and ended up moving back down there almost two years ago, and we haven't seen him since. They have both been like brothers to me over the years. Bobby and I sat next to each other at the graduation and we made comments back and forth the entire time!! It was fun!
Sunday morning Samuel and I both went into the jail. I was excited/sad to go to into our first service which is in F block, the lock down block where guys are locked into individual cells 23 hours a day, because a guy that I've known since he was a little boy, we were neighbors, and he and his siblings used to come to church with us, was in that block. When I found out several months ago that Michael was in jail (at the time he was only 15, now he is 16) I was pretty mad at him, but I also really saddened, and as time went on I decided that I couldn't wait to get back into jail so I could give him a hug. Since he was in F block, there would be no way that I could hug him, which made me sad. So we go into F and I'm looking around and didn't see him in any of the cells, so I asked one of the guys and he said that Michael had been moved from F to another block!! YAY!! That meant that I would be able to give him a hug after all!! That TOTALLY made my day! :) After the service in F one of the guys motioned me to come to his cell. In the little bit of time that we had been doing the service he had drawn a picture of me! How cool is that??!!
The next service was all of the guys in the regular cells combined into one service and Michael was there!!!!! :) There was a radical change from the boy that I used to know to the young man that he is now! When he was younger, Michael used to be a mocker, and defied authority at any and every chance possible. Now, he is really sweet, and he listened very intently, and was even helping another Mexican man who was sitting next to him. After the service was over the jailers weren't ready to take the men back to their blocks, so Michael and I got to talk for quite a while. He has really matured! I not only got one hug from him, but two!! :)
Our church had a carry-in dinner and then an afternoon service, so we went to that. I sang a solo for church! That was cool! I sang "God Hears My Prayer." It's a song that I learned for voice lessons and I really like.
Sunday evening we had friends over for dinner and played games.
Today was the beginning of training for my job. I will be selling Rainbow systems. It's a lot of information to digest, but I'm pretty sure I will like the job! :)
I got a phone call this evening from a hotel that I had filled out an application for last week, wanting me to come in for an interview tomorrow! Praise the Lord!
Friday was another day where I slept in, without anything that I HAD to do early. In the afternoon I made dirt pudding, which is chocolate pudding, butter, cream cheese, and milk mixed together and then layered with crushed Oreos! It is really good stuff, but I can't eat it which is sad! I made it for the Bible study that is held on Friday nights for families of people in jail, ex convicts, and really anyone who wants to come. It did go over REALLY well! :)
Mom and I went to the Saturday morning jail ministry team meeting. It went well. I was planning on going in on Sunday, which was all well and good until I found out that the regular pianist (also my former piano teacher) was going to be out of town! UGH! That meant that I had to play, I haven't played the piano in several months, there just hasn't been time! So, not only did I have to play the piano, but I also had to accompany a guy who was singing, which was fine cuz he was just singing out of the piano. Plus, I was told that I would be helping with what would be done with the speaking in the ladies block, I wasn't feeling well, and so it seemed REALLY overwhelming!!
I had a HUGE blessing on Saturday! :) At the jail meeting some how I had made the comment that I had found a job, but I would also like to get another job as well. One of the men on the jail team, Wes Smith, who has a whole bunch of ministries, mainly involving the end times and prophecy, asked if I was good on the computer. I was like, "Uh, yes." He said, "I'm wanting a presentation that I can show at churches of pictures from Israel that I have taken, etc. Do you know how to do things like that?" I said, "Yes!" The discussion went really well from there, and I'm hired! I have a meeting with him tomorrow to begin the work! YAY!!
Saturday afternoon we went to a high school graduation party for a friend of ours. I grew up with him, and we had a lot of fun! On our way home from that Samuel and I stopped to see another friend. He is trying to sell a pick-up truck, and jokingly tried to sell it to me!! :-P He did let me drive it, which was fun! :)
*****Me n' a truck...what a combo*****
Saturday night we went to a friends high school graduation. I grew up with Brent and his older brother, Bobby and I haven't seen them in ages. Bobby went to college at Pensacola Christian College, and ended up moving back down there almost two years ago, and we haven't seen him since. They have both been like brothers to me over the years. Bobby and I sat next to each other at the graduation and we made comments back and forth the entire time!! It was fun!
**********
*****Brent walking across the stage*****
Sunday morning Samuel and I both went into the jail. I was excited/sad to go to into our first service which is in F block, the lock down block where guys are locked into individual cells 23 hours a day, because a guy that I've known since he was a little boy, we were neighbors, and he and his siblings used to come to church with us, was in that block. When I found out several months ago that Michael was in jail (at the time he was only 15, now he is 16) I was pretty mad at him, but I also really saddened, and as time went on I decided that I couldn't wait to get back into jail so I could give him a hug. Since he was in F block, there would be no way that I could hug him, which made me sad. So we go into F and I'm looking around and didn't see him in any of the cells, so I asked one of the guys and he said that Michael had been moved from F to another block!! YAY!! That meant that I would be able to give him a hug after all!! That TOTALLY made my day! :) After the service in F one of the guys motioned me to come to his cell. In the little bit of time that we had been doing the service he had drawn a picture of me! How cool is that??!!
*****My picture*****
The next service was all of the guys in the regular cells combined into one service and Michael was there!!!!! :) There was a radical change from the boy that I used to know to the young man that he is now! When he was younger, Michael used to be a mocker, and defied authority at any and every chance possible. Now, he is really sweet, and he listened very intently, and was even helping another Mexican man who was sitting next to him. After the service was over the jailers weren't ready to take the men back to their blocks, so Michael and I got to talk for quite a while. He has really matured! I not only got one hug from him, but two!! :)
Our church had a carry-in dinner and then an afternoon service, so we went to that. I sang a solo for church! That was cool! I sang "God Hears My Prayer." It's a song that I learned for voice lessons and I really like.
Sunday evening we had friends over for dinner and played games.
Today was the beginning of training for my job. I will be selling Rainbow systems. It's a lot of information to digest, but I'm pretty sure I will like the job! :)
I got a phone call this evening from a hotel that I had filled out an application for last week, wanting me to come in for an interview tomorrow! Praise the Lord!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
I have lots to write about today...prepare for a loooong post!
To begin with I have to tell you a story from last night. After Adreonna and I did nails I tried to jokingly convince her to come to New York with me. I told her that she'd be the pet of the dorms, with 27 big sisters to mother her. Then I told her that it would be 270 fingernails to paint!! She told me no, so I thought that was the end of it. A few minutes later her mom found her sitting in the corner crying...she was trying to decided whether she wanted to stay in Indiana, or come with me to NY...she was really struggling! :( I told her that I had been joking. She wouldn't speak to me for a long time after that. I finally had to bribe her...I'm such a bad cousin!
I woke up this morning to COLD!!!!! I don't think the high got into the double digits today! BRRRR!!!! I went to take a shower, only to have mom tell me that there was something wrong with the sewer and I wouldn't be able to take a shower...I ran to a friends and took one there. Mom and I then went to the doctor for a post-op visit. The doctor was shocked at how well I was doing! He was very, very pleased. :)
The roads were atrocious! We got 4 or 5 inches of snow yesterday, and another 4 inches of snow today! It is beautiful outside...it's great to look at, but you don't want to be in it, believe me!
Tonight we went into the jail. Mom, Samuel, and 2 other kids from our church, as well as me, did music. Dad went too, but he didn't really do much. :) It went well, PTL!!! I had fun, as usual.
I have tried very hard to not get into politics on this blog, and so far I've managed, but I've got to say a couple of things.
I am a big lover of talk radio. I like the big names, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Michael Reagan, and so on. This morning I was listening to Glenn Beck, he was talking about having faith in government. He listed quite a few of the governmental offices, such as the treasury, dept. of education, dept. of labor, the CIA, Congress, even the office of the President, and asked which of those do you still believe in. I thought about it, and really, I
don't believe in any of those anymore. I don't care which party controls that White House, or Congress, the government is no longer "By the People, and for the People." It is now "By the politicians, and for the politicians and the special interest groups." The ONLY thing in government that I still believe in and am proud of is our military. They are the ONLY part of government that is still by and for the people. THANK YOU to the men and woman in the armed forces who still give me, as an American, hope for our country.
Another thing that has been bugging me, all of these bailouts of companies. For goodness sake, if a private company goes under, then they go under. We don't need government rescuing these companies, I don't need my tax dollars going towards that, why don't we instead try to eliminate our national debt instead?? That might help the economy! DUH!! But then again, we've got POLITICIANS in office who are approving all of these bailouts for their own personal gain...more votes! I got an email from somebody the other day listing the sorts of facts about Wal-Mart. It told how much money people spent a day there, and all of the profits that they are making. Then the end of the email said, "Why don't we let Wal-Mart bail out all of these companies?" I lost it! Why is it that if one company is failing, then we have to make the companies that are succeeding look bad? I know some people don't like Wal-Mart for various reasons, and that is fine, but to me that is the WORST reason to hate them, just because they are making a profit in a bad economy. It's called CAPITALISM, and principle that our country was founded on! DUH!
To begin with I have to tell you a story from last night. After Adreonna and I did nails I tried to jokingly convince her to come to New York with me. I told her that she'd be the pet of the dorms, with 27 big sisters to mother her. Then I told her that it would be 270 fingernails to paint!! She told me no, so I thought that was the end of it. A few minutes later her mom found her sitting in the corner crying...she was trying to decided whether she wanted to stay in Indiana, or come with me to NY...she was really struggling! :( I told her that I had been joking. She wouldn't speak to me for a long time after that. I finally had to bribe her...I'm such a bad cousin!
I woke up this morning to COLD!!!!! I don't think the high got into the double digits today! BRRRR!!!! I went to take a shower, only to have mom tell me that there was something wrong with the sewer and I wouldn't be able to take a shower...I ran to a friends and took one there. Mom and I then went to the doctor for a post-op visit. The doctor was shocked at how well I was doing! He was very, very pleased. :)
The roads were atrocious! We got 4 or 5 inches of snow yesterday, and another 4 inches of snow today! It is beautiful outside...it's great to look at, but you don't want to be in it, believe me!
Tonight we went into the jail. Mom, Samuel, and 2 other kids from our church, as well as me, did music. Dad went too, but he didn't really do much. :) It went well, PTL!!! I had fun, as usual.
I have tried very hard to not get into politics on this blog, and so far I've managed, but I've got to say a couple of things.
I am a big lover of talk radio. I like the big names, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, Michael Reagan, and so on. This morning I was listening to Glenn Beck, he was talking about having faith in government. He listed quite a few of the governmental offices, such as the treasury, dept. of education, dept. of labor, the CIA, Congress, even the office of the President, and asked which of those do you still believe in. I thought about it, and really, I
don't believe in any of those anymore. I don't care which party controls that White House, or Congress, the government is no longer "By the People, and for the People." It is now "By the politicians, and for the politicians and the special interest groups." The ONLY thing in government that I still believe in and am proud of is our military. They are the ONLY part of government that is still by and for the people. THANK YOU to the men and woman in the armed forces who still give me, as an American, hope for our country.Another thing that has been bugging me, all of these bailouts of companies. For goodness sake, if a private company goes under, then they go under. We don't need government rescuing these companies, I don't need my tax dollars going towards that, why don't we instead try to eliminate our national debt instead?? That might help the economy! DUH!! But then again, we've got POLITICIANS in office who are approving all of these bailouts for their own personal gain...more votes! I got an email from somebody the other day listing the sorts of facts about Wal-Mart. It told how much money people spent a day there, and all of the profits that they are making. Then the end of the email said, "Why don't we let Wal-Mart bail out all of these companies?" I lost it! Why is it that if one company is failing, then we have to make the companies that are succeeding look bad? I know some people don't like Wal-Mart for various reasons, and that is fine, but to me that is the WORST reason to hate them, just because they are making a profit in a bad economy. It's called CAPITALISM, and principle that our country was founded on! DUH!
Friday, December 26, 2008
To add to my post yesterday, another thing about the jail that I find so sad is the age of many of the inmates. Some are as young as 17! Quite a few are 18, 19, 20, 21, ect. Some of those that are in at that young age have already been in jail several times. It breaks my heart. That is one of the major reasons why I want to teach, I want to help teenagers stay out of trouble. I don't want to see their lives ruined by Satan. Many of these inmates have so much potential, but because they fell in with the wrong crowd have now completely wrecked their lives. It's so sad. God can still use them, but not in the way that they were once usable.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
MERRY CHRISTMAS
I trust that everybody had a wonderful and blessed Christmas. I know I had an experience like never before. It was truly a blessing to me.
This afternoon my family and I along with others from the jail ministry went into the jail to pass out cookies and candy to the inmates. Some of you know how much I love going into the jail and how much I miss it when I'm at college. Normally we go into the chapel in the jail and the inmates come to us, I've never been into the actual cell blocks before. We went into each block and stood in a line as one of several people who were former inmates told the current inmates why we were there because we loved them, and knew that this was a very hard time for them to be alone, and that there is no other place that we could imagine being, which is the honest truth. We would all be in a line and the prisoners would line up and we would pass out the goodies and give them all hugs and/or handshakes. Some of those men and women wept, they couldn't thank us enough. I went into that jail to be a blessing, and came out feeling like one of the most blessed people in the world.
I've had people ask me if the inmates ever scare me. The answer is always a resounding NO!!!! I look at those inmates, not as inmates but as people just like me, who made bad choices and as a result their choices sent them to jail. Some of them didn't have the opportunity to grow up in a home like mine, they literally grew up in a hell hole, they weren't taught right from wrong. Others did grow up much like I did, but as they got older chose to make mistakes, and as a result God, as their loving Father is chastening them. They are no less a person just because they are in jail, if it weren't for God's grace I'd be in the jail right now with them. Praise the Lord for His grace and love.
Other than jail we really didn't do much. We of course ate our delicious cinnamon rolls for breakfast. :) After jail we came home and made soft pretzels. I shaped one of mine as a snowman, mom took a picture of it, but it is on her camera, I'll get it from her and post it tomorrow. They were good as well. :)
I hope that everybody had a very merry Christmas and that you took a moment to reflect on the True Reason for the season, and remembered the fact that Jesus was born to die on Calvary for all of our sins.
This afternoon my family and I along with others from the jail ministry went into the jail to pass out cookies and candy to the inmates. Some of you know how much I love going into the jail and how much I miss it when I'm at college. Normally we go into the chapel in the jail and the inmates come to us, I've never been into the actual cell blocks before. We went into each block and stood in a line as one of several people who were former inmates told the current inmates why we were there because we loved them, and knew that this was a very hard time for them to be alone, and that there is no other place that we could imagine being, which is the honest truth. We would all be in a line and the prisoners would line up and we would pass out the goodies and give them all hugs and/or handshakes. Some of those men and women wept, they couldn't thank us enough. I went into that jail to be a blessing, and came out feeling like one of the most blessed people in the world.
I've had people ask me if the inmates ever scare me. The answer is always a resounding NO!!!! I look at those inmates, not as inmates but as people just like me, who made bad choices and as a result their choices sent them to jail. Some of them didn't have the opportunity to grow up in a home like mine, they literally grew up in a hell hole, they weren't taught right from wrong. Others did grow up much like I did, but as they got older chose to make mistakes, and as a result God, as their loving Father is chastening them. They are no less a person just because they are in jail, if it weren't for God's grace I'd be in the jail right now with them. Praise the Lord for His grace and love.
Other than jail we really didn't do much. We of course ate our delicious cinnamon rolls for breakfast. :) After jail we came home and made soft pretzels. I shaped one of mine as a snowman, mom took a picture of it, but it is on her camera, I'll get it from her and post it tomorrow. They were good as well. :)
I hope that everybody had a very merry Christmas and that you took a moment to reflect on the True Reason for the season, and remembered the fact that Jesus was born to die on Calvary for all of our sins.
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