God Cares for the Persecuted.... ( from a friend)

God cares for the persecuted

Have you ever been imprisoned?

Don't forget about those in prison. Suffer with them as though you were there yourself. Share the sorrow of those being mistreated, as though you feel their pain in your own bodies.


Hebrews 13:3 NLT

Tell me how much you know of the suffering of your fellow men, and I will tell you how much you have loved them.

Helmut Thielicke


Solidarity in Suffering

At any given time, many of God's saints are in prison. The prison may be literal, or it may be a product of circumstances. It can be financial debt, a broken relationship, a physical ailment, or any other consuming situation.

A huge problem in the church is when Christians look at their imprisoned brothers and sisters and assume that God has not favored them. Paul probably experienced such a phenomenon. We read his prison epistles and marvel at his suffering for the cause. But many of his contemporaries may not have marveled. They may have seen his trouble as a sign of God's disfavor and wondered why someone with so much potential had fallen to such depths.

God's prisons are full of His loved ones. He uses those experiences mightily, as He did with Paul, Joseph, John the Baptist, John the disciple, and numerous other biblical examples. In fact, many of those whom He used in powerful ways have experienced an imprisonment, captivity, or loneliness ordained directly by Him.

Are you in prison? You are probably not literally behind bars, but your circumstances may make you feel as if you are. Don't despair; it will not last. It is ordained by God and is designed either for your current witness or future usefulness. He is refining you and molding you into His image, the exact likeness of His crucified Son.

Keeping the ties strong while my hubby is away....

I have been coming across ideas and thought I share what I am doing. I want to keep him up to date on what is helping around us.

~ Every month I am going I am send him a blank calender page for him to write how he felt that day or something that he did , I am going to do the same and we can mail each other's to one another

~ I am sending him Nascar Results every week, with the points, etc.
~ I am sending him the monthly schedule and results for Boston Red Sox

~ Lots of photos~!

~ The kids draw him pictures, today I had them trace there hand to send him a huge, I figure we can do this ever so often to show how much they grown. Grace wants to mail him copies of there report cards too.

~ I print stuff from my facebook for him to read. I am going to print the 365 every month for him too.

~ I am making homemade word searches, crossword puzzles

~ I write love letters, what happened that day.

~ Anytime I make a big change in our home,etc. I am going to mail him the photos.

~ I found recipes based on items found in his commasionary.

~I send pages from his spanish book, bible studies, and verses.

I am open to other ideas too...

The Prison Wife...

I didn't write this, it comes from here:
http://www.marriageandwealth.com/prisonwife.html

The "Prison Wife" is the forgotten one, as she waits at home for her husband. Our society takes care of the sick, the dyimg, the homeless, but the prisoner's wife is alone and forgotten.

She is faced with insurmountable problems....financial, emotional, psychological, social, stigmatization, health problems to face alone, children to take care of. She keeps the household "together" until her husband comes home. She works, pays the bills, pays the mortgage or rent, the car payments, the insurances. She takes care of the children, the repairs for the house, and just about everything else under the sun. Holidays and birthdays come and go. She is alone and lonely, most often faced with depression.

Most prison wives find it difficult to even face another day. The prison wife lives in hiding because she is afraid the neighbors may find out. So she lies and says he is on a "business trip," to protect herself. After all, the neighbors would be shocked to know that a criminal's wife lives next door to them.

And what does she tell the children? No one wants to let his child play with a criminal's child.

When her husband leaves for prison, the wife goes through a period of "grieving." She goes through the same "grieving process" that a widow goes through. The only difference is that the widow can eventually move on, while the prison wife cannot. The prison wife is a "wife," but without a husband. She cannot go out and socialize, and it is difficult to make new friends, as she feels she is being "unfaithful" to her husband.

After a certain amount of time (months or even years), it is acceptable in our socity for the widow to step out, start dating and even remarry. The prison wife who is faithful and dedicated to her husband does not have this option. Some women wait years for their man to return - ten, even twenty or more years.

There are close to two million prisoners in our country....that makes me wonder just how many wives and loved ones are left behind and forgotten. We think about the prisoner, but rarely think about those left behind.....the wives, the children, the mothers, and the girlfriends, to name a few. Those loved ones, who did not commit a crime, except the crime of "loving a criminal." They did not commit a crime, and yet they are punished.