I Choose Hope

Questions You Must Ask A Potential Parole Lawyer When news spreads throughout the system that someone was granted a positive parole vote the auto response is, "Did they have a parole lawyer?" Parole feels like a mystery for most inmates and those who love and support us. Rarely do any of us have the privilege of meeting face to face with an actual voting member of the Parole Board so we simply write letters, mail in certificates, and pray that our best efforts will overshadow the crime(s) we committed years ago. Hiring a Parole Attorney is an option, albeit an expensive one. Inside the razor wire there are very mixed reviews around this subject. Some feel it's a scam, others swear by the effectiveness of the choice to hire an attorney to represent your loved ones case to parole. Whatever you decide with your LO, here are some questions you most certainly should ask before you hire anyone. 1. What will they actually do for your LO? Some "parole attorneys" sim...

Actions > Intentions When I was finally returned to my unit of assignment I spent the first two weeks reconnecting with friends and exploring the many changes that had occurred in the 17-months I was away. It was obvious that many great programs had come to the Robertson Unit like the Forever Sober Program (FSP) created by an inmate to promote sobriety, affirmation, a positive environment, and incentive based opportunities for being part of the solution for change within the system. However, I was also faced with many conversations of that revealed a lack of knowledge of the Word of God, a feeling of loneliness, and a strange sense of competition between those who profess a desire to help make the prison culture of yesterday a thing of the past. "Someone needs to promoted legitimate unity." "Someone should start an engaging and relevant Bible study...for inmates, by inmates." As I heard these echoing themes I began to see the real problem, namely, no one was ...

How To Stop Settling Every once in a while a song lyric, a phrase, or a quote will sprint its way past my ears and resonate directly with my soul. This weekend I sat with two men at one of the cold, stainless steel tables in my assigned prison wing when one of the men nonchalantly said, "Without a 'What Now,' there's always a 'go back.'" The conversation lulled on for a moment before my heart woke up to what he had said, "Wait, what did you say again?" I questioned. My tone must have been jarring because John repeated himself taking great care to get his words right, "Without a 'What Now,' there's always a 'go back.'" Every time in my life that I have not had a specific plan, goal, or purpose for what's next, I have returned to old habits, old hangups, old patterns of doubt and fear, old addictions, and old ways of thinking. I must have a, "What Now?" Our physical bodies love comfort. Innately we ru...

Why Your Life Feels Aimless When I was a freshman in High School I was called into the school counselor's office because someone had expressed concern that I had allowed myself to get too spread thin and my grades and social life were suffering as a result. I had been elected Class President, participated in football, basketball, track, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, speech, theatre, and my church youth group. I had yet to learn the power and purpose of the word, "No!" My life was moving at such a rapid pace that I was stressed and felt unknown even though I was surrounded by many people. That school counselor helped me understand that my value, my worth, was not based on my performance. She helped me define what my personal vision was for myself. One of Covey's Seven Habits is to "begin with the end in mind." When I paused and thought about what I wanted to be remembered for when I graduated high school it was not that I juggled every club and sport, it...

The Classes Your LO Needs To Sign Up For Now Most of my choices are made for me. I am told what I will eat, when I can go outside, what job I'll have, where I'll live, the clothes I'll wear, and even when I am allowed to shower, but there are some things I am allowed to decide for myself. I always get to choose my attitude, who I spend most of my time with, and what I believe in. In addition, the prison system allows me to choose the classes and programs I will sign up for. Some programs in the prison system have specific requirements like a positive parole vote or a certain score on academic placement tests, and some programs exclude certain criminal offenses for a variety of reasons, but there are always options and opportunities for personal growth and development while inside prison. All units may not offer the same programs, but there are a few classes that most units have available. Here, I will share the top programs the Texas prison system offers on most faciliti...

If Teamwork Makes The Dream Work, How Do I Find A Team? One of my favorite verses to quote from the Bible is Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NLT): "A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple braided cord is not easily broken." We were not created to be lone rangers wandering through life in solitude. God created us for connection and community. We need people in our lives who encourage us, challenge us, and nudge us to go higher. We need people who will remind us who we really are when doubt tries to creep in. We need a team to travel life with. In his book, "CARE to Win," author Alex Draper shares how to develop a team that will assist us with our personal and professional growth and help us move toward success. C.A.R.E. is an acronym and when we apply each letter to our own team development, we ensure that we are building toward our ideal self. C - Clarity The opposite of clarity, of...

How To Change Your View Of Yourself and Others Words have power. What I choose to speak, and what I choose to listen to, changes my thinking and shapes the way I see myself, others, and the world. The wild truth is that most of us know this and still allow ourselves to fall into mental and emotional snares that slowly tighten their grip like the constricting serpent suffocating its next victim. Here are three ways we can immediately alter our perception of the world we live in. 1. Stop Providing Gossip A Platform Gossip is divulging information (accurate or not) about others when there is malicious intent. Typically, someone who gossips will justify their gossip by saying the motive is pure. I remember people in my childhood Church gossiping about others but adding, "So be in prayer for her," to justify the gossip. When I gossip, or lend my ear to gossip, I am allowing my thoughts to be shaped toward a particular slant regarding the subject of the gossip. The dangerous comp...