Just Like God

Yay! I worked hard enough today that Josh didn't have the heart to tell me that I couldn't sit down and get this post written. It is burning a hole in my heart. It's been a long time since I've been here, and much has happened so I hope I can remember everything!

I guess I'll start out by telling those of you who don't already know, that Josh has officially announced that he believes God is leading us to move to Eau Claire, WI. We will be leaving Montana in just three short weeks. Wow, it is so weird to see that in black and white. Time is going by way too fast.

As I said on facebook, when God goes about changing people's lives, He does it in a big way. Just as God's leading has been so clear in the details, He has seemed to delight in answering our small, everyday, almost afterthought prayers in a great and mighty way. While we're looking for His answers to the "big prayers" ~ you know, like getting my parent's out of prison? ~ He's keeping our focus on the small things.

God never makes a mistake. When you are yielded to the Lord, when you've surrendered everything you are and have to Him, He takes it and makes something out of it that you and I would never have dreamed of. He is allowing us to see farther down the path than we have thus far been allowed, and we are amazed at what He is doing!

My dad had a really rough week last week. In a nutshell, he has relied on my mom for so much ~ his happiness, his faith, his fulfillment ~ for so long that now that he doesn't have her he is completely at a loss. After several phone calls that I never saw coming and never wish to repeat, he has finally surrendered his will to the Lord's and is at peace with his situation. I think that is a daily, moment by moment thing, but overall he finally has a good grasp on it.

Upon his arrival in Shelby he had the option of going to pod "H" or pod "J". He was inclined toward "H", but at the last second God prompted him to choose "J" instead. Two days later two guys in "H" got in a fight, and the entire pod was put on lock down 24/7 until May 31. That means they are not let out of their cells (which contain only two beds, a sink, a toilet, and a small shelf) for any reason whatsoever until the time is up.

No phone calls, no letters, no trips to the library, or commissary, or gym, or outside. They see nothing but those three cinder block walls, and talk to no one except their "celly" for almost three weeks.

I don't know about you, but I think that could easily be constituted as cruel and unusual punishment, and I'm almost positive they have no authorization to do such a thing. But there is very little, if any, accountability for county prisons, and while my insides are churning with the injustice if it all, I have no idea what can be done about it. I can't (and don't even want to) imagine how I would feel if my dad were one of the victims. He can't allow himself to think of that happening to him either. He honestly feels it would result in a mental breakdown if he had to endure it. So our main prayer for my dad is for what he calls "Peace in the Pod."

While the general air of pride, and the "need" to be macho are so prevalent in male prisons, God is still working in the hearts and lives of the men. My dad has such a tender heart, and he has always been prone to tears, but the other men see that as a sign of weakness. He kept telling me over and over again how guys would just turn around and walk away at the first sign of his tears, and how he almost felt ashamed but he couldn't help it ~ the tears just come. I couldn't get it out of my head that those same men probably wish with all their hearts that they had someone they could cry to who wouldn't scorn them for it. Their macho attitudes are just a thinly masked facade for their empty, aching hearts.

On Tuesday he was able to go outside for an hour or so, and as he and his Honduran friend, Javier, were walking they began to pray. As the men would pass, and hear that they were praying, one by one they joined them until there were seven men sitting on the bleachers praying with and for one another. Three of them were backslidden Christians who longed for restoration of the joy and peace they were witnessing in my dad and the other few men. That's probably the most coveted and most elusive thing these men see, but can't figure out how to have. Peace.

Last Thursday night Josh and I had something especially yummy for dinner. As we were praying before going to sleep that night, Josh asked the Lord to allow my parents to have something as wonderful for breakfast the next morning. The kids had prayed something similar at one point during the day, too.

When I talked to my dad on Saturday, he said that Friday morning he had the best scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage that he has had in a really long time. What rejoicing we shared when we realized how abundantly God had answered such a simple prayer! In addition to that, he remembered that late Thursday night his friend, Little G, had made tamales out of Ramen soup, horded butter or margarine from dinner, dried beans, and hot squeeze cheese in a bottle. He said he remembered thinking it was absolutely amazing what he could do with so little. Isn't that just like God?!

Both of my parents were supposed to be shipped out to Oklahoma City on Thursday. At 7:00 a.m. the guards loudly and roughly hollered up to my mom to get down to the lower level immediately. She hadn't been awake for very long, but she was putting the finishing touches on Isaac's birthday "card". (Heather made it by tracing stencils with blue ink, and then brushing the ink with her finger coated with clear deodorant to make the letters look soft and wispy. SO creative!)

Shaken, my mom hurriedly scribbled the addresses on the envelope and took it down with her to mail on her way out. They were allowed to carry nothing with them, so all the letters they had previously received were thrown away, and they were handcuffed and shackled on the spot for the trip, regardless of the possibility that they wouldn't be leaving until late that afternoon or evening.

My mom was taken down to the waiting area where she was booked out, and handcuffed to a solitary wooden bench that was pushed up again a cinder block wall. Her guards were super nice though, and since she kept joking and teasing with the personnel that kept walking through, they ended up taking her hand cuffs off after only 30 to 45 minutes. She was then free to get up and stretch, walk around, and use the bathroom. The guards even allowed her to use the phone in booking. Using the phone is against the rules! God is so very good to her!

She was offered a sack lunch for breakfast, and then another identical one for lunch which she refused, stating that she knew she's be better off starving to death than eating something that hadn't been thoroughly cooked first. The guard sardonically agreed with her. At about 5:15 she was able to eat a small hot meal that they brought to her.

Apparently what had happened was that the plane broke down early in the afternoon. It took several hours to get it fixed, and then for some reason they couldn't get it fueled up. Oklahoma City called and said that if the plane wouldn't be arriving by 8:00 p.m. they would have to cancel until next month.

And that's what happened.

My dad had been transported to Great Falls for the flight, and had to be taken back to Shelby that night. Once again, they didn't have handcuffs big enough for his hands. Last time he kept blacking out and having panic attacks because he could see that his hands were purple, and he couldn't feel them. But this time, God abundantly answered our prayers again, and they didn't bother him hardly at all!

They ended up having to get re booked in ~ mugshots, fingerprints, questions, the whole nine yards ~ all over again just to get back to their original cells.

Javier had managed to call me early that afternoon to let me know that they had taken my dad away that morning. He primarily speaks Spanish, but he still manages to speak English really fast. I was able to understand about every third word, but he basically kept saying that it broke his heart that my dad had to leave, that he would miss him, and then he thanked me profusely for all of our prayers on his behalf.

He was ecstatic when my dad walked back through the doors of their pod!

My mom had a similar experience, but it wasn't just one person enthusiastically welcoming her back....every single lady started hollering, and cheering, and laughing and crying and just making a general ruckus at her appearance!

They all had had a miserable day. Her roommate, Heather, had lost her temper and threatened to hurt somebody; the ladies she played games with said they hadn't laughed all day long; some ladies said it was a terrible day without her, and that they just missed her so very much; some said "Welcome back Martha!" (They call her Martha Stewart because they are all convinced she was railroaded, and is the last person who deserves to be in there.) They had her close to tears, and my mom rarely ever cries.

When she had made her way through the crowd and got back to her cell, she found three girls in there that were just a mess. When Heather saw my mom she started crying in earnest and said, "When you walked out that door the Lord walk out with you!" My mom talked to and prayed with all three of them, and they were all better. While they were praying three girls knocked on their door, and when she didn't answer, they repeated through the door what others had said to her upon her arrival. It was so precious to my mom.

When the other two had left, she had the perfect opportunity to talk with Heather about her salvation. She said that she had accepted the Lord as her Savior at a vacation Bible school when she was eleven. My mom was thrilled to have that settled in her own heart and mind.

The night before they had prayed together for Heather's early release so she could go home and take care of her three babies, ages 4, 2, and 1. The day after my mom's return, she was released! As she was getting ready to leave, my mom lovingly reminded her that she needed to remember to be praising and thanking God every day for what He had done for her. What a sweet answer to prayer that was, and just like God to show Heather just how much He still loves her, in spite of their rocky past.

Her other roommate, Shauna, was released later that same day, so my mom had two empty beds in her room. Almost immediately two girls came up to her, and asked if it would be okay for them to move in with her. My mom was unaware that was an option so she told them to ask the guards, and if it was okay with them, it was okay with her. Whenever girls, especially new ones, have a hard time with their roommates, the ladies always tell them, "You want to watch for the opportunity to move in with Judy. She is so nice! You will LOVE her!!" Everyone tells her that they love to visit her room because it's just so peaceful. God is there.

A young girl who is just barely eighteen was in my mom's room visiting a few nights before all this took place, and my mom was able to lead her to the Lord within hours of her arrival. It seemed that the Lord had allowed her to come to the prison just to get saved because she was released the next day. How our hearts praise Him!

She was also able to have a private talk with another lady named Judy. She is a Christian, but she is very upset about her past and she goes to trial next Tuesday on trumped up charges. My mom encouraged her to pray and read the Bible everyday. She also told her that she needed to forgive herself and then ask her husband to forgive her. About an hour later she told my mom that she had written to her husband asking for forgiveness. She said, "What a burden that has lifted off my shoulders! I never even thought of doing that. I know you were sent here to be my guardian angel!" In her heart my mom was saying to herself, with her hands raised in praise to God, "My cup runneth over. Truly, truly my cup runneth over!"

I know this is already way too long, but I just have to share a couple more things.

The day after my dad was re booked into the Shelby facility, the Denver Broncos player that was convicted of drug charges walked into his pod. They became fast friends, and my dad was excited to be able to say today that he was for real friends with a member of the Denver Broncos ~ despite the shady circumstances! What an exciting life he now leads! :~D

One of my mom's new roommates is a lady from her hometown named Sandra. She is the daughter of one of the runners for the Napa parts store in town. She knows several people that we know, including a zealous Christian man named Patrick who has been a faithful witness to her father for years now. Two ladies in our church knew her mom and tried over and over, but to no avail, to lead her mother to the Lord before she died of cancer a few years ago. My mom was able to lead her to the Lord yesterday afternoon! This is a huge answer to prayer for so many people, and one that is against the odds for sure since her dad is brashly outspoken in his disdain for Christians in general. Many, many hearts are rejoicing along with the angels in heaven over this particular sinner that has now repented! I stand in complete awe of the God we are so privileged to serve!

In addition to that, get this....! Sandra had been to the minimum security prison my mom is headed to, and she said that it is not unusual for them to grant requests of transfer to facilities that are closer to the prisoner's family. My mom has the opportunity to put in for a transfer to the Waseca, MN prison which is a mere two hours and 45 minutes away from where we'll be in Eau Claire!!! She'll be two hours closer to us than my dad, when she was the one we thought would be all the way out in California! I am just laughing for joy! Isn't that just like God?! I love him.