Visit day today, I am up early, dressed, hair gelled and ready to go. Lockdown census count is called, so I sit to read my daily devotionals.
“Do not despise these small beginnings”. [Zechariah 4:10 NLT]
God is constantly working small “miracles” in my life, showing me He is here with me, taking care of me, guiding me and planning something great for my future. That is what today’s “Our Daily Bread” message is for us. “He uses the small things to build toward His greater purposes”. We just need to have our eyes and ears open to see the things He does for us. Whether some may want to see it as coincidence, I can truly say by my experiences, that they are not.
Some time before, these lockdowns would frustrate me, stress me out, especially on visit days because I didn’t want my family to drive over, spend time waiting and then not be able to come in. Not anymore. Even though it does make me feel some sort of way that my family sacrifices so much to come see me, I know that whenever I do get called to visit, it will be at the right moment, at perfect time according to God’s plan for our lives. They just started unlocking the doors and letting guys out onto “the flats”, so I am going to head over and let the officer know I am waiting for visit in case my name is mentioned.
Visit was great today, had some great conversations with my dad, as we spent a good 2 hours together. I ate an “Angus cheese burger”, (sounds way better than it was, though it was good), bag of cool ranch Doritos, and a Lemon-Lime Gatorade in which he bought me.
After visit I returned to the unit, changed out of my “visit uniform”, into my daily uniform, and head to the chapel. At 2pm we had several guys arrive for the second class of “Embracing Interfaith Cooperation”. I gathered the Spanish speaking guys and we went into a small room, while the English speaking stayed in the chapel with the chaplain. I led the group by translating the documents provided to us by the chaplain, and started hearing what each one had to say regarding the subject matter. It was a very informative discussion, almost debate style, so as class came to a close I invited them to visit the chapel on Thursdays from 6-7pm for Bible study so we could continue the debate and study more on what was spoken.
Count clears, Mr. Campos is making a shredded beef soup for himself, Mr. Rivero, Mr. Escudero and me. Thankfully I was able to wait for the soup to be ready, have him fill my small bowl, and take it with me to the chapel with a sleeve of saltine crackers. Chaplain Estrin is in his office, I knock, wait, then enter. He is speaking with the Jewish Community Leader, so I step on through to the chapel, sit at my desk and enjoy my soup, with some background 99.9 Kiss Country music. I quickly finish with my soup, clean up and start preparing for the 6pm study groups that will be coming in.
I pull out two sign-in sheets, and set them up on a clipboard each, with a pencil attached. Islam Study will be held in the “small chapel” which is a room off to the left of the chapel, and the Jewish Study will be held in the main chapel. I put on some soft music on the main speakers, as I turn on the main lights, and wipe down the top of the lockers that are aligned against two walls of the chapel. Now on to the restroom to clean and disinfect the toilet and sink. On the inside of the restroom door, I tape on a paper with 3 columns and several rows, and I label it, “Restroom Cleaning Log”. Now every time we clean the restroom I am making it a requirement that we write down what we did, the date and time we completed it. I have also created a “Chapel Maintenance Log” to keep track of when we completed any tasks around the chapel.
The study groups finish up around 7pm, I change the garbage bags verify everything is off and that all doors are locked by the chaplain, and he walks me back to the unit. I took the chapel callout sheet with me, as tomorrow I will be helping Counselor Cornavaca with Admission and Orientation in the chapel. I highlighted each person that is scheduled for A&O tomorrow, and counted how many per page. We have a total of 17 adults in custody that are on callout for tomorrow morning. Having this ready, I can help the counselor verify attendance as each person arrives at the chapel, so we can get started right away and be able to call for anyone who may not have arrived.
I take a quick shower, and head to the phone to call mom. We said our hello’s, and spoke for several minutes. I chose today for this journal entry because it is day 1111 of my incarceration and I thought maybe it would be of good luck. Only God knows how much longer this will go on for, and I know that each and every day is a new chance to do bigger and better things.
I pray dear Lord that you continue to guide me on the right path. I see now what you do for me, I know now that you have always been there for me, and as always I ask that you continue to build my faith in you. Please watch over my family, friends and loved ones. Thank you Father God for the life you have given me. Amen.
Eduardo L Valdes
02499-506
September 30, 2024
20:58