Last night, we had Week 8 of the Alpha course in the chapel. The more time I spend in the chapel, watching movies we have, or reading, the more I want to learn about God. The video shown for Alpha was amazing, and there were two testimonies spoken from men who were terrible people before they got close to God, truly amazing stories, and all I want to do is stay to watch the rest of the videos back to back to learn more. I promise God, myself and others, including my good friend Mr. Bermudez, that I will continue building my relationship with God once I am released. I could not believe I did not follow this path before, but it is never too late.
I am up early today, chow is called later than usual. The officer we have in the unit today likes yelling EVERYTHING, so no luck for anyone to sleep-in. On my way to breakfast, I arrive and grab my tray, and find a seat at a nearby table. Quickly after, we hear the officer’s alarm going off, and I see an inmate rinsing his eyes using milk from a milk carton after being sprayed by the pepper spray. Banana’s were provided today with our breakfast, but apparently there were not enough to go around for everyone, so the inmate involved began complaining and it did not end well for him.
I head back to the unit after the inmate was taken away and everything was clear for us, to get ready for the day. I head to my room, and start getting dressed, then head to the chapel at the 7:30am work call.
Speaking with the Rabbi Chaplain, I ask if I could take some time to clean the office, and he gives the “Okay”. I think this is the first deep clean I have done to that office. I moved the small refrigerator to a corner and moved over a two drawer small furniture, to make more room for the Chaplain’s chairs. I sweep once, and then sweep again; time to mop. I grab a small towel and spray cleaner and begin wiping down the desk, and the rest of the furniture, the microwave, and the refrigerator, now the shelves. I organize some papers where they belong, and see a spaghetti bundle of cables behind the computer monitor, and so I take a cable organizer and tie up the cables neatly. I use disinfectant to wipe down the desk once again, and the door knobs in the office, then I grab a plastic chair, and use it to stand on while I clean the a/c vents from the years of dust.
I finish my work, and organize the office furniture back to their positions, and go place the cleaning supplies back in the storage room. I prepare the sign-in sheets for the afternoon services, prepare the chapel altar for the Catholic service, setup the microphone, and head back to the unit to get ready for lunch.
What a long afternoon it seemed to be, once I returned to the chapel after lunch, I swept the chapel entrance, turned on all the lights, turned on the media center, and lit the candle for the service. Everyone starts arriving at the 1pm move, including those who want to spend some time watching spiritual movies in the individual televisions, so things get a little hectic. First I make sure the service gets started and all is in order, then I continue on to setup each person with the movie they want to watch.
A thunderstorm begins to roll in, the rain is coming down hard, everyone is hoping we don’t have to head back to our units under this weather. Luckily it slows down when we leave at the 2pm move, and as I get to the unit, I change out of my uniform and into shorts, place my uniform shirt and pants on separate hangers, and hang them from the top bunk so they could dry and then sit on my bunk to read my daily devotionals and Bible chapters. The officer is doing his rounds as I am reading Chapter 11 of Romans, he stops at my room door, opens it, and tells me I need to take down the clothes that are hanging because he cannot see the full window. I simply, put my Bible aside, stand up, move the hanging clothes, and as soon as he turns and walks away, I understand what I did was suffice, so I sat back down to finish my readings. It is still early enough to take a nap, so I grab my radio, put on my headset, turn the radio on to 610WIOD to listen to Sean Hannity, cover my face, and close my eyes.
The officers come around for count, my roommate comes down from his bunk, and we both stand as usual, once they pass we lay back down on our bunks. Once we start hearing the doors unlocking, we start putting our shoes on, and getting ready to head out of the room. “CLEAR COUNT”, the officer yells off the top of his lungs, we are not sure why he does this, but if anyone was asleep, they were sure to feel their heart skip a beat.
Mr. Rivero is not in the mood to head to dinner, tonight they fed, grits, scrambled eggs, and potatoes. Not too sure who puts these menus together, so we stay in. I head to my room, and prepare myself a meal. One pack of shredded beef, one soup, one pack of pork cracklings, seasonings, and hot water, then I added some peanuts, and VOALA!!!! I do have to say it was pretty good, my roommate even came into the room and said it smelled good.
I grab my radio, grab my water bottle, and ID to wait for the recreation move. I spend an hour walking around the track, listening to 89.7FM K-LOVE, then the start of the Miami Marlins game, right before I head back to the unit at 7pm. I’m showered, ready to call dad, as I sit here listening to the Marlins in the bottom of the 4th inning, as they lead 6-3. Half an hour after speaking with my dad, I will call mom, then end the night for today.
Dear Lord, what an excellent day today. I have to say, thank you for giving me the will to wake up early every day, as it has given me such a positive, and healthy attitude to have throughout the day. Thank you for watching over and protecting us at all costs. Without you, many are lost. Give me strength and humility to help keep myself away from any negative behaviors and towards a positive crime-free lifestyle. Thank you for all you do, I ask for a goodnight sleep tonight, and a chance to wake up tomorrow to face a new day with new adventures. Amen.
