Eighteen Months... A Month Early :) --- And A Glorious Unfolding - PART 2

And Father's Day ♥

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In May we were off Facebook and I completely forgot about
posting about 15 months. So I will do it here! :) (This is an older pic
from a previous visit, but it's one of my favorites).

May 2015 - 15 Months Down. 105 to go. God is good. #feb17th

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Here's some recent letters from Tay. (He gets out in August)! Tay will be living
with his mom in Milwaukee. Please pray for him, as he will be confronted
with some of his old "friends" and some of the old temptations.
We are still planning on trying to help them move down here. 

We have really grown to love him. ♥

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I LOVE the Magic of Ordinary Days... ♥

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Dear Family,                                       June, 2015

This week was one of the better weeks I've had. I was able to share the gospel with a guy on my quad and he seemed really open. We have continued to talk. I think he may be getting close to receiving Christ.

Another thing that happened was I was asked to preach a message that I was not prepared to give...but I had just finished reading Psalms 43. So God just really started a fire and I preached the Words of God. It's like I wasn't even talking...God just took control!! It was the BEST feeling that I've ever had! – Just letting the Holy Spirit take control.

In other news from prison... :) – my job is going well. I had a really good week at work. Last night I was finishing eating and where we put the trays was all cluttered from other inmates not putting their trays away right. So I asked one of the COs if I could go get some gloves and fix the mess. She said yes, so I did...and later she came and found me and thanked me for being a help. Just another way to let the Lord shine through me.

Also, this was the first week that Pastor Yowell came on Wednesday for Bible Study. It was good to see him and hear what he had to preach. He started with the Book of Genesis. It was a really good study for us three guys who were there.

As I'm writing this letter, I am listening to Christian Radio. It really has been a life-line during my time. The song I am listening to right now says to live life like I'm not scared...and give (to others) when it's not fair. Good reminder.

Well, I need to go for now. Hope you guys are doing well.

                                     Love Your Son,

                                      Samuel Shelton

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I wanted to post these pics above (they are from a post I made on Wednesday night, July 15th) in reference to a somewhat dangerous situation Samuel is in at the prison. I was so touched and humbled by the amount of people that acknowledge that they are praying for us...I wanted to post it here as a public THANK YOU. There is absolutely NO WAY we could do this thing without YOU.

Here is the backstory: Samuel has been working in Laundry for several months, and for the most part has loved it. At least the work part. And he gets along very well with the CO in charge, "G" referenced in his letter in part one of this post. Samuel is the only white guy down there. Usually that doesn't matter a whit to him -- or us...but if the situation was reversed...I am certain somebody would be crying "RACE!!!" and be suing the prison, the guards, the inmates, the bugs, and the shrubs.
OK.
Slight exaggeration. Slight. But they have taunted him, yelled at him, pushed him around, and now for the past month or so...they collectively...don't speak to him. Not a word. Neither do they speak to him on the quad, in the dayroom, or in Rec. That doesn't matter too much to him...but it is rather annoying.
He does most of the work....and they are content to let him do so. G is content too...because he knows Samuel will do anything he tells him to do, and do it well, and that he can trust him. Therefore he gives him all sorts of special projects and tasks to do. Of course that inflames the guys too. They even tell him to stop working so hard - because he makes them look bad. 

ON A SIDE NOTE: In May, on the Tuesday before Mother's Day (I remember, because it was my Mother's Day present :) )...I was sitting in the car outside the prison getting ready to go in....and out walks a white haired gentleman who I am almost SURE is G. So I call out my window and asked him if he was "G". Sure enough he was...and when I told him who I was...he went on and on about Samuel. He told me what a hard worker he is and that he knew he could give him any job in the prison and knows that it would be done well. He said the other guys pick on him, but he has a good sense of humor and takes it well. He said he is well-groomed and has good hygiene and is a good example to the other guys. He told me he is doing good and is going to make it...that he is going to do good when he gets out - of that he was confident. You don't know what those few kind words did for my heart. It was a gift from the Lord.

Well things have taken a very serious turn...and much of it has to do with all the underhanded stuff that goes on behind the scenes...black market stuff, trading, favors...Samuel stays COMPLETELY away from that stuff too...and they hate him. And they are sure he is snitching on them.

Of course if he was...they would all be in trouble, possibly put in the hole, and probably fired. Well it has all come to a head, as we have learned that the guys in the laundry have paid someone to put a hit on Samuel. As far as we understand, that hit is just beating him up or hurting him. Samuel did go to G and tell him finally, and G said "Sounds like a Unit problem." Samuel was disappointed in his response, but he says that is pretty normal...they don't like to get involved in anything. His friends talked him into going to Captain Goodall and tell him everything, so Samuel did. But it's one of those situations where you are "cursed if you do...and cursed if you don't"...Now that will even make him more of a marked man, but hopefully some of the COs will kinda watch out for him too. Captain Goodall was going to be "speaking" to the guy involved, and told Samuel if something does happen, the guy will be in extra trouble, since he would have been warned ahead of time.
[I am not going to tell you the sarcastic response that leapt to my mind]. 

I am also not going to tell you what that does to my mother's heart...but you can imagine...and there is not much we can do but pray and advise him. The first guy they tried to pay to do it - Samuel had actually befriended some time before and he refused and he is the one that told Tay to tell Samuel about the hit. The problem is he didn't tell him that they did find another guy to do the hit. The guy is on Samuel's quad...and Samuel knows what he looks like, so that is good.

Samuel has been trying to avoid fights of course, at all costs, but if something happens and he goes to the hole (all guys involved in a fight go to the hole until they figure who did what)...he told us he is just going to tell them everything. If he is in the hole anyway, and they are already trying to beat him up when he HASN'T snitched on them...he said he is holding nothing back.

His father is going to give him a little instruction about what to do in the 'event of an actual emergency' tomorrow during our visit. :)

PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR HIM!!!

UPDATE: Today's visit went very well, and Samuel was very cheerful. He amazes me. So the Captain had a talk with the guy who was paid to be beat Samuel up. Hopefully it will end there. He really really doesn't want to quit his job. He is not a quitter and that is hard for him. He will be working one more week in Laundry. We are praying that God works out the situation that he doesn't HAVE to quit. G is really pleading with him not to...that if he does the other guys win. Samuel is seeking God's wisdom. If he quits his job he loses all pay for 90 days even if he gets another job. If he can get into one of the Tech courses he would like to do that to add to his education, and he wouldn't lose his income. One of the guys from Laundry went to the "hole" last night for fighting...so maybe God will remove them one by one ;). Thank you for continuing to pray for him.

Samuel continues to trust the Lord. He keeps reminding us that God is in control. He keeps quoting his life verse with us:

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Before I close...many people have been talking about the Duggars. I am not going to get into all of that....I do feel sorry for how they are being treated by Christians.  But that isn't why I am bringing this up. I am bringing it up because of a couple of quotes I want to share from a blogpost I read by Trudy Metzger on the subject of of being a victim, and being the perpetrator. You can read the complete blogpost below if you wish. She wrote 3 pertaining to the Duggar situation. She wrote the second one after going from a couple hundred folks who leave comments ...to over FORTY THOUSAND that night. Obviously this is a subject people are very passionate about. She makes a couple of corrections as well about erroneous information she put about the legal aspect in her first blog. Here is the blogpost:
http://splash4ripples.com/2015/05/23/josh-duggar-who-will-join-the-crucifixion-march/

Here is the quote:

"What Josh did was very wrong. He ‘owned’ that. He has made no excuses, that I’ve seen or heard. He has not blamed his victims. And he was a minor. Fourteen, my friends. Fourteen… That is incredibly young! In my home right now I have a thirteen year old, and he is very young. He has the advantage of talking openly with me and daddy about sex, but even so, he is very young.

Even where I was victimized, there is no way anyone will convince me that the fifteen year old who violated me fully understood, or understood at all, the consequences of his actions. I’m sure he knew what he did was wrong, but understanding what it was he did to me… not possible. So I forgive him, with boundaries.

When I see Christians throwing their rocks at Josh, it troubles me. I am a believer in Jesus Christ. I believe that Jesus died for all my sins. I believe that He transforms lives, and that people change. Even those who molested. If Jesus cannot do that, then He is neither God, nor the Messiah. Then Christianity is a farce. Either He can save and restore all, or He can save and restore none. There is no middle ground.

The popular belief of ‘once a molester, always molester’ is a tragic life sentence to put on anyone, and a slap in the face of God/Jesus. And I do not support it. I never have, and I never will. Admittedly I feel most hope for those who come forward on their own with their sins, repent, and ask for help. I also feel hope for those who are caught at a young age and are forced to get help. They have the advantage of not establishing life patterns. And the manipulative, lying ones… they’re not repentant or looking for change; I am not speaking of them.

But the notion that they are all molesters for life is not truth. I doubt we can begin to grasp the impact that kind of teaching has on people. So I will look every young offender in the eye, if they are repentant, and tell them I believe in them. I want them to believe in themselves. I want them to believe they can overcome and are not sentenced to a life of crime. I want them to set a higher standard for themselves. And I want them to look to God, through Jesus, for that strength. I want them to understand consequences and comply with the laws of the land, because it is scriptural, but I want them to know they can be free, that they never have to do it again. So, yes, I am willing to swim upstream and speak against the tide of judgement, condemnation and hopelessness. Because I believe in God, and what He can do."

Trudy is a "victim." So aren't Lee and I both. But she, nor we like being called a victim. 

We've been victimized, but we are NOT victims. Nor do we like others being our "voice" as she mentions in her post. People like to speak up and speak out on the behalf of others. 

Do you know how many of my black friends do NOT appreciate Jesse Jackson, or 

Al Sharpton speaking out and speaking up on their behalf? 

I said it once in a previous blogpost, but it bears repeating here... You are either a Victim or Victor -- but it all depends upon YOU and your attitude about your circumstances. Victims allow themselves to be victimized over and over again by their lack of forgiveness and self-pity. I ain't just throwing that out there...I'm speaking from EXPERIENCE. VICTORS, on the other hand, forgive those who have sinned against them (it doesn't have to be this type of situation). Victors know their value and worth are in Jesus Christ and His love for them and the payment He paid for THEIR sins -- and NOT in the actions that others have taken against them in hurting them. Victors know that God WILL work all these things out together for their good. And Victors are happy. I mean really happy - the deep-down joy type...because they KNOW there is a God in control who doesn't miss one single teardrop. And He's not done with you, with your situation, and with this world. 

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So....now is time to take my own advice and remember Who's in control. :)
 This is my view every Saturday Morning:

Yep. That's it. My son's home. Racine Youthful Correctional Facility...or, more 

affectionately known to the guys as: Camp Racine. :)

But we still can't WAIT to get there. 

I want to finish by placing the words to the song, Glorious Unfolding, by Steven Curtis Chapman:

"The Glorious Unfolding"

Lay your head down tonight
Take a rest from the fight
Don’t try to figure it out
Just listen to what I’m whispering to your heart
‘Cause I know this is not
Anything like you thought
The story of your life was gonna be
And it feels like the end has started closing in on you
But it’s just not true
There’s so much of the story that’s still yet to unfold

And this is going to be a glorious unfolding
Just you wait and see and you will be amazed
You’ve just got to believe the story is so far from over
So hold on to every promise God has made to us
And watch this glorious unfolding

God’s plan from the start
For this world and your heart
Has been to show His glory and His grace
Forever revealing the depth and the beauty of
His unfailing Love
And the story has only begun

And this is going to be a glorious unfolding
Just you wait and see and you will be amazed
We’ve just got to believe the story is so far from over
So hold on to every promise God has made to us
And watch this glorious unfolding

We were made to run through fields of forever
Singing songs to our Savior and King
So let us remember this life we’re living
Is just the beginning of the beginning

Of this glorious unfolding
We will watch and see and we will be amazed
If we just keep on believing the story is so far from over
And hold on to every promise God has made to us
We’ll see the glorious unfolding

Just watch and see (unfolding)
This is just the beginning of the beginning (unfolding)

Yes, most assuredly...this IS a GLORIOUS UNFOLDING.

We claim that promise of "Just wait and see, and you will be amazed."

We DO believe the story is SO FAR from OVER.

So, we are holding on to EVERY PROMISE God has made to us....because

THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING OF THE BEGINNING...

Click on Older Posts below: It is a brief letter in Addendum