Special Visits and More Letters

Boy the summer has flown by! The beginning of August brought my mom, Abigail (Micki) DeWeese and a dear friend, Marilyn Rea out from Ohio for a quick visit. (It was a week - but it went very quick...). The main objective was to get lots of visits in with Samuel. The prison was gracious enough to work out the details for FIVE special visits! What was really neat about that was - they made a special accommodation for Lee and I to see him all of those times as well...we WERE their ride there, after all... ;-)

You would not believe all of the details that had to be worked out to make that happen - and considering how usually s - l - o - w the prison system is - God moved and worked to allow us to have these precious visits. Lee took off Tuesday so he could go with us the first time, but as it turned out, Marilyn needed special paperwork because of her pacemaker and was not allowed to go for that first visit.

But again, God moved in the details, and the prison actually worked with us and went above and beyond to make an exception that would expedite the paperwork which had to be faxed to Ohio and back all before the next afternoon's visit. God is so good! But, just to keep us relying on God - for almost each visit, they couldn't a) find the paperwork or, b) find my mom and Marilyn in the computer or, c) didn't know who to talk to to get these visits approved - while we were waiting right there - holding our breath. But we prayed hard and pressed gently and God moved in hearts to help us! He is so good!

Sunday would be our final visit all together, and we had these pictures taken:

Samuel and Grandma

Samuel and "Aunt" Marilyn

This wonderful final day was topped off by taking a trip down to Chicago as Marilyn and Mom were heading home - to visit and have dinner with my Mom's brother, Uncle George Wilson, and his wife Jane. I hadn't seen them in approximately 40 years, so it was a HUGE blessing!! We had a wonderful time! Later that evening we headed home and Marilyn and Mom decided to drive all night and arrived back home - safely - to Ohio at about 6am! While we had our visits we laughed and cried and laughed and shared memories and made memories. It was so wonderful and we will treasure those memories forever.

Dear Family,                                            July 10, 2014

Hope you guys are having a great day at the fairgrounds. Yesterday we had all the dayrooms. (First time since 2 week long lockdown). I think everything is going back to normal. The last few days the weather has been wonderful. It was so good to get back outside.

The book I was telling you about was “Hunting Booger Bottom” by Michael Waddell – it's a really good read!

Reading through 1^st Samuel really is a big encouragement to me to see how I got my name and what it means and how God used Samuel in many great ways.

Well, it's count time, so I got to go!

Love you guys lots! :-)

Stay strong in Christ Jesus.

Dear Family,                                            July 11, 2014

Well today has been great so far. I had to go to HSU for another shot. :(

Last night was so good to be back in Bible Study. This morning was very busy. My shot was at 9:30 so I will not be calling you guys like normal. But I will call you at 3:00.

Well I just got back from REC. Tonight we played badmitten. I got to talk to Chas, Aunt Rita, and Michael.

My celly would like me to thank you for talking to his sister for him. Well, not much going on the rest of the night...all we have left is count. Then off to bed I go! Wish you all sweet dreams....

Love lots, Your son

Dear Family                                           July 12, 2014

Well today is Saturday! Can't wait to see you guys! We had frosted flakes, bread, and coffee cake for breakfast. Last night was kind of hard because I was not able to go to sleep. So how was your guys' week? Hope you guys are able to fix the car this weekend.

Well I just got back from my visit with you guys. I had so much fun~ like always! Hope you have fun at the football game.

I tried to call Uncle Jack but could not get ahold of him. We will be having REC in 40 minutes so I will let you go.

Love you all so much. Can't wait to see you next weekend.

We just got back from REC and from taking showers. We played a hard game of 21. It was lots of fun. I got loped (?) in the face on accident, but it was still fun.

Well, tomorrow is the longest day of my week because we have no last dayroom. :( Well I will say goodnight for now. Have sweet dreams. Love lots!

Well it's Sunday and they changed our day around. We normally clean on second shift, but today we will clean on first shift. Also , we will have a 3:00 dayroom and a 5:30 dayroom, and an 8:00 REC. There will be no baseball today then.... Well, time for my Sunday nap Love you guys!

We just cleaned up our cell. It was dirty. When we were on lockdown they did not let us clean our cells.

This Morning I read 1^st Samuel 5 - about the ark and how when the Philistines had it – people died and also got emerods :-) It just goes to show how powerful God is.

Well got to go for now. Lots of love.

Just got back from REC in the gym. Tonight we played badmitten again and it was a lot of fun. Today went by pretty fast for a Sunday!

Man, I can't wait to take a shower tonight! When we get back from REC we get to take our showers around 9:05 ish. Hope your guys' Sunday was a good as mine was. :)

We had meatballs for supper tonight. They were pretty good. Well, I'll let you guys go for now. - until tomorrow.

Wishing you guys sweet dreams. Love you always.

Dear Family,                                           July 14, 2014

Well today I started another module (Transportation). Even though I already have my driver's license :-/ Well, it's almost time for me to go to class, so I will say goodbye for now.

Well I found out there was no class today.... :( I was really looking forward to a new class this week.

It was so good to talk to you guys this morning. I slept in all morning. Last night I did not go to sleep right away. Jeremiah said thank you guys for the $10. Thank you for sending me $20. I will use it very sparingly.

So, how are the websites going, Mom?

Everyone is talking about Lebron James going back to the Cavaliers.

Dear Family,                                              July 15, 2014

Well, it's a new day today. Can't wait to talk to you guys this morning. We just had our first outside dayroom. It was wonderful to see the clouds and the sun! Normally I don't get up for the first outside dayroom.

Time for indoor dayroom, so I will let you go. I will call you at 9:00. I can't wait to see Missy tonight! (his boss).

It was so good to talk to you this morning. Just had my first Transportation module class. O what fun...

Well, my visit with Missy went well. It was SO good to see her! She only stayed for part of the time. She told me that they have 11 guys working for them now. Man, I wish I was there to help them! They said there was a bad storm that took ou the big oak across the road. Wish they could bring some wood here for us guys to split.

We just got back from REC an hour ago. It was so good to play basketball tonight. The shower was the best part of the whole night! :) (He's come a long way, baby... :) ). Man it feels good to be clean.

So what have you guys been up to? Can't wait to see you guys on Saturday. Hopefully this week I will go down to property and get my goodies you sent me. The Lord is so good to me – even through this trial.

I just started a Bible Study with an outside Christian Institution. They will send me lessons and even provide a person who will write me and correct my answers and send them back. Hopefully this will help me to grow even more in my faith. I want to go deep into relationship with God. Like what you and dad have. Someday I want to be just like you guys.

One of the CO's said that Missy looks like she could be related to me. :) Missy was surprised when I told her I was adopted. She said I look a lot like my Dad.

Well, I should let you go for now – it's almost 10:00 pm. Pray for me. My celly and I aren't getting along too well right now....nothing like with Magic – he can just be annoying sometimes.... :) Please pray for me to not lose my cool with him. He keeps trying to provoke me into a fight. :(

One other thing. I have two people wanting to cell up with them. Tay is one of them and the other one in Enniper. Tay only has one year left, and Enniper has two. Enniper also said he would teach me how to play the guitar which would be kinda cool. If I cell up with Enniper we would be cellys for two years, if I cell up with Tay I would have to move two times instead of one. I just don't know what to do right now. What do you guys think I should do?

Well, now it is going on 10:15 and I need to get some sleep. Love you guys always.

Dear Family,                                               July 16, 2014

O yay. Another day in the life of prison. O yay, the fun we have. Being locked down for most of the day with only 45 minutes out of our cells to talk or play ball. Can't wait to be done with this. Can't wait to get home and live the right way...where we wont be locked down and can go any where – just as long as we stay out of trouble so we don't go back there. (Rough morning).

Just take a deep breath – it will be over soon –

10 years is nothing – and then back to my own house where I have my own room.

Back to my life of work and play -

Every challenge is new when the sun rises each day.

But when the sun goes down and the day is done, I will fall into my bed, knowing it was all done in fun.

Even though at the time it was all so bland -

I can see now – it is all in His plan.

It was really good to see Mom tonight. I always love it when she comes to see me. Man, can't wait till Saturday comes! What fun we will have. It's almost time for REC, so I will let you guys go. Just wanted to say good night to my loving family.

Love you guys lots. Wish I was at home, but this is where I was meant to be for now. Love you always,

Your Son

Dear Family,                                               July 17, 2014

Well, everything is going well here. We just had our first dayroom. We played Hacky-sack. O what fun that was!! :-p ….NOT!!! I thought it would be like soccer, but it was pretty boring. Well, I'm going to read my Bible right now. Love you all so much. It's almost time for me to go to school. Just though I would write a line or two.

Today I get to drive in the simulator!!!! :-)

Dear Family,                                               July 29, 2014

It was so good seeing you guys today. I had a lot of fun. Wish we could have had longer. Can't wait to see you guys again. Well, I had a good rest of the day after our visit.

Love you guys lots.