same side of the tracks

Today I was at the WIC office with Ali. Shes on a special kind of formula that costs $300 a month so thank God for gvt $$ :)


Anyways, as Ali and I sit in the waiting room alone this big huge black prisoner is mopping the floors. He looks just like the guy in The Green Mile. Here in GA they work the prisoners butts off doing all kinds of things, cleaning, road side pick up and landscaping, etc.. So as this guy approaches me he looks at me a couple of times. I smiled once and he got this strange look on his face.

Then he says "Maam may I ask you your name?" So I tell him and he tells me his name is John. I shake his sweaty calloused hand and say "nice to meet you John." Looking nervous he then says "This may sound weird but I feel compelled to tel you something. I want to tell you that Jesus Christ died for your sins and he loves you so so much."

I could tell he was timid and almost seemed embarrassed to be talking in this manner to me. He then said "I know we come from different sides of the tracks and all" and I stopped him and said "No. We all come from the same side of the tracks. Your my brother in Christ just as I your sister, and God loves us equally."

He started to cry

This touched me so deeply I cannot express it in words. First of all it has always been in my nature to judge, especially a black prisoner, and here in this moment I truly felt and knew we were equal. Nothing he has done was any worse than anything I had done in Gods eyes. A sin is a sin.

He told me had another 7 yrs to go but he knew everything would be okay because he has found Jesus in prison. With a smile he told me his nieces and nephews wont even recognize the man he comes back as because when he left he was a mean hardened criminal. I could see pride and esteem in his eyes and that made me feel good for him.

I asked him if they had minstiries that were coming to visit and he said they had in the past but they stopped coming. He said that the prisoners are starving to hear the word of God. Starving for the "outsiders" to come visit and bring the good news.

Its so common for churches or people in general to want to help the homeless, the children, the elderly, etc... But what about the men? What about all of the thousands of lost souls behind prison walls?

As I walked away he said "You made my week maam." and I thought to myself "No you made mine."

"Thank you God for opening my eyes and giving me compassion for someone I normally would not have it for. Thank you for using this man to tell me you love me yet again and confirm your awesome love. Thank you for helping me become a more tender hearted person that I may feel comfortable in talking with someone like this man about all your glory."