11-6-2013

REPLY ID: XQAN

"ASHLEY-MAE", sincerely thank you for your polite comments as you're taking time out your day to transcribe my post & even respond to them. Means a lot. Seriously! Being who I am, I tend to struggle with what to write & when to write it. I also struggle, wrestle with IF writing is worth it - though I know it is, especially as I use this God-given gift to glory God & not me. Amen. Yet getting comments such as yours remind me that it is worth it! That I don't have to touch millions of lives - just 1! :) Still, knowing that I've "touched" 1 only inspires me to reach out & touch another 1 or 2 or 3.

Thanks for the encouragement - I try to stay positive in a world that reeks of h8, selfishness, greed, lust, gluttony, & the rest of our sinful nature; racism is present... so is PRIDE. So is discouragement!! Yikes. One day I counted the word "inmate" well over 200 times! Written on memos, heard over the loud speaker, stamped on your mail, told to your face - even by other "inmates"! But thank God, for God it is He who tells me WHO I AM. :) :) :) That's something that can't be taken from me by anybody or everybody. Yes, I AM A CHILD OF THE MOST HIGH GOD. A KING & A PRIEST, I KNOW WHERE I AM GOING & HOW TO GET THERE. Praying helps with my goal to stay positive & live above my environment. Prayer helps me to put life & its details into an eternal perspective... In prayer throughout the day God speaks to me by way of lil encouraging statements, like - TODAY I WILL NOT BE IN PRISON.

B4 I forget, I apologize in advance for talking too much! Time affords me that luxury. I will attempt to be as short as possible out of respect for your time structure. Amen.

Yes, God has forgiven me my mistakes. This is the basis upon which I am able to forgive others who I feel have wronged me. God forgave me for shooting a man, surely I can forgive men for mistreating me or calling me a bad name, or exchanging angry looks. Does that make sense? (Don't answer that!) :) :) :)

Congratulations that your boyfriend is out & accepted by his community & is a great person! I trust in my heart that he was a great person even on the inside! Amen. I admire the courage he exuded throughout his 16 yr stay in prison. I know it ain't easy & I'm in WI! I know wherever he did time is a rougher place than this. So I commend him for his heart to keep going & striving to get to his release date. I pray that he is a man that pursues God with both hands - there's nothing like it. Amen. A relationship with God will help him know more about who he is & who's he destined to be. Oh, this is for him - on Monday Nov. 4, 2013 I was told to tell him YOU HAVE BEEN LOOSED FROM BONDAGE BECAUSE THE LORD HAS NEED OF YOU (JOHN 11:39-44, MATTHEW 21:1-3). For out of prison he comes to reign (ECCLESIASTES 4:14) CHANGING HIS OUT OF HIS PRISON CLOTHES HE IS DESTINED TO SIT AT THE KING OF KINGS' TABLE ALL THE DAYS OF HIS LIFE. (JEREMIAH 52:33). He is the HEAD & not the tail, He shall be ABOVE ONLY & not beneath, He shall lend & not borrow & whatever he does shall be blessed. Amen, in Jesus' name.

I thank God for putting me in your heart to pen the words that you did. I am amazed by our heavenly Father.

As you spoke - "I hope you have freedom in your future!" I thought if what God had been speaking to me about for the last couple of months, i.e... preparing to go HOME! That my warfare here in this place is accomplished. Praise God. So your letter added words to that diary page. Even more so because I got your comments on 10-31-13, which reminded me that I just had the chaplain pray for favor to go home early, though I don't deserve it. For the record I have a total of 75 yrs in prison! I was charged with - attempted homicide, party to armed robbery, & possession of THC w/ intent to deliver. Yikes. Well, I have to do a total of 18 yrs & 9 months before I see parole. That is more than the 18 yr & 2 months I did on the streets before coming to prison! But God is control & He opens doors no man can shut. Your latter brought a bigger smile to my face because to this day I have done the exact amount of time that your boyfriend did! 16 yrs. So upon reading that I smiled to heaven & said, "God, You must be up to something!" :) :) :) :)

Well, the good head on my shoulders is a gift from my heavenly Father, who blessed me with knowledge, wisdom, & understanding for reasons I still don't quite get! :) But I do know part of the reason is to tell people about Jesus. :) Sadly I had this same head on my shoulders when I came to prison! I was an honor roll student who just graduated high school (class of '97). Moms always said, "You so smart yet so dumb." And I truly was. Now I know that I was made smart so I could help others, not toot my own horn. Thank God for showing me my divine purpose. Amen.

Thank you for the GOD BLESS. I needed that. Please know that we both are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. (Ephesians 1:3). Thank you for the reminder that "YOU ARE WORTH IT!" I truly needed that as well, sometimes I forget my worth while putting on "mom jeans" :) j/k.

I leave this here & pray that you will be encouraged on today & tomorrow &... the next day. 1st, thank you for being a forgiving person - you shall be forgiven as well :). Thank you for giving your boyfriend the 2nd chance. Thank you for understanding that we make mistakes, sometimes we make them outta love (ask Moses, Exodus 2:11-13). Your heart is more beautiful than you are. May you be blessed with millions of children! :) I pray you will allow God to be the center of you & your boyfriend's relationship. May God continue to bless your GIFT OF ENCOURAGEMENT. Read the FIVE LOVE LANGUAGES - it'll help you as a person, as a girlfriend, as a wife, as a mother... Take a gander at Proverbs 31:10-31 & Psalm 144:12 & Proverbs 14:1. May you be as wise as Abigail. Thank you for your willingness to transcribe my post & read them as well. Thank you for all your community service & volunteer work, on behalf of all those you serve at the soup kitchen - thank you. They were naked & you clothed them. They were sick & you visited them. :) :) :) May you have a blessed day. TODAY WILL BE BETTER THAN YESTERDAY. Your responses to life determine how your day goes :). Your character shows in what you do & how you do it. RESPECTFULLY - Mrf.