Family Visit (#6)

I finally got a letter from Jeff about Jeff's family visiting. It took a little while for Jeff to send me this because of the postal rate change, and the prison did not get enough 41 cent stamps.

Anyway, Jeff's family visited a little over a week ago, on Friday May 18th. Here are Jeff's words about the visit and what is going on.

Laura and the boys visited this past Friday (May 18th). I have to say that Friday night and Saturday after were very difficult days, probably the toughest since my first weekend. The visit went well, though. Connor was a little hesitant for the first half hour, but we started playing together after a while. After 2 1/2 hours, Laura's mom came and picked up the boys while Laura and I talked. When they came back to get Laura a few hours later, Connor ran back into the room to see me. I picked him up and hugged him and told him he had to go with mommy. That just broke my heart. The event was not without a positive outcome. I attend a a prayer meeting on Friday nights. I had never shared a request until that Friday after Laura and the kids left. One of the brothers (as we call each other) came over and hugged me while all of the guys prayed. It was a powerful moment for me. I feel I made a significant step in finding hope and encouragement within the church here, which has been a prayer of mine since before I even arrived.

I've been learning a lot about trusting God. The simple truth is that God has me here for a reason. The pastor at the church here gave a sermon about accepting God's will and embracing the purpose He has for me here. If God has a purpose for me, then I need to trust that He will provide for my family in ways I can't imagine. I know many of us feel that God's purpose for our lives is to provide for our families. You may want to ponder that. What if that isn't God's purpose for you? Would you know? Sometimes we may put people in our lives ahead of God We know that money, success, cars, homes, etc can be idols that we worship. Consider that your family may also be something that you put ahead of God. I know I struggle with this. I'm not saying that you should not love and provide for your family; however, you should always look at priorities. Here is easier, but not easy. I have lots of time on my hands. you would think I would spend a lot of time reading the Bible. Well, it's not true. I struggle to prioritize here. How much more so when you have a family, a job, and all the other things in life that desire your time? One thing I did make a priority because my wife asked me to is to spend time talking and listening to these men here. I will talk more about that in the next blog.