This is Sandie... Missy and I have been friends since we were 16, so most of you probably know me. If not- nice to meet you! I lived in Colorado for a few years and moved back into my old house this year which is coincidentally 5 minutes away from the Perryville Prison! Under any other circumstances, this fact may be disconcerting, but it is quite wonderful for me! I have had the opportunity to visit Missy just about every Saturday for the last few months- and it has been so encouraging- so uplifting. God is at work in Perryville Prison! He is using Missy to share the gospel, encourage inmates, and I have seen that this "tearing down" of my sweet friend, has set the stage for God to build her up again. In Missy's first blog post, entitled Eleven More Hours, she wrote:
"It hurts... a lot, but I am thankful that I have a God that loves me enough to pull me out of darkness, no matter what it takes. I will consider the next (hopefully) couple of years not simply a punishment, but as discipline. For punishment can bring about bitterness but discipline brings wisdom, strength, and restoration. Thank you so much for being there. For loving me through this. 1 John 4:12 says, 'No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.' I never understood how God's love could be made more complete through people - until now. The forgiveness and mercy you have shown me, the love I have felt from you in the past year has been life-changing. Truly God's love has been made complete in you.... I hope you will stay on this journey with me - I want you to be able to see God turn our mourning into joy."She wrote this post 14 months ago, and although there have been a few bumps along the road, this is even more true today than the day she wrote it. God is turning our mourning into joy in a real way. She is growing, maturing, and being Missy. She had been in a funk with the writing and she asked me to apologize for her if she hasn't responded to all of the letters she has received. But know that the letters you all have sent (and will hopefully continue to send) really help her. It is necessary to continually renew her mind in there, and with little teaching/resources and a lot of prison drama- "normal" interactions with people via letters and visits are so beneficial. Writing the blog has also been a really healthy outlet for her as well. I have been
One last thing! Many of you have asked me, and asked Missy, if she needs anything. She felt weird about saying anything- but there is a prison fundraiser going on this week- so I told her that I would put it out there on the blog so that if anyone wanted to contribute financially, they could, but that there would be absolutely NO PRESSURE on anyone. So here are the details:
Well, first, here is a little information about prison life, then I'll give the fundraiser details! Missy has to buy just about everything from a prison store- soap, razors, shoes, sunscreen, any extra food, etc. She has a decently paying job in there (she makes 40 cents/hour teaching other inmates so that they can pass their mandatories -8th grade equivalency tests)- but after paying rent, taxes and fees, she only takes "home" about $9/week (I asked how much it would take to live comfortably- relative to the fact that you are still in prison- and she said that she would be in the lap of luxury on $80/month. Crazy!) Anyways, she if fine. She wanted me to say, she is totally and completely fine! But, as her friend, I just wanted to let you know that anyone can put money in her account, anytime. Just saying! I go through www.jpay.com. You just enter her inmate # and Wallah- she gets the money deposited into her account within a few days. Her inmate # is 280198.
Ok- for the fundraiser. A few times a year, certain stores/restaurants come into the prison and do fundraising for victims groups. The idea is that the inmates have access to buy items that they usually cannot purchase (like lipgloss or a cheeseburger), and the merchant charges a high price for the item. So, if Wendy's did a prison fundraiser, they would charge the inmate $2 for something off their dollar menu. $1 would go to Wendy's , $1 would go to the Victim's rights Non-Profit, and Missy would get to eat a frosty! One of these fundraisers is going on this week. So... in the most non-pressurey way that I can put it, if you want to- just go to www.jpay.com and you put money into Missy's account and she can participate. There ya go! Every little bit counts so please do NOT feel any pressure to put a ton of money in there. Thanks guys!
Anyhow, I am hoping to get a letter from Missy any day now to update the blog. She told me last weekend that she was just finishing a blog post. Who knows, maybe it's in my mailbox right now! To make it less confusing, when a blog post is informational, I will post it through my own personal gmail account, but when I am transcribing a blog post from Missy, I will go through her account, so that those entries will say "Posted by Melissa Dalton."
Well, I'm not sure how to end this- and "All My Love From Fat Camp" is already taken, so- Over and out!
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