It is good to finally have public messaging and our phone system back online after several days of a full system outage. We were locked in for most of the week due to a few issues in our unit, and yesterday we were free from the lockdown, which meant, back to work.
On this beautiful Saturday morning, December 14, 2024, I was awake and ready by 6:45am to walk over to the chapel for the normal schedule of services, and two guys wanting to finish watching movies they had started yesterday evening. First thing’s first, I turn the lights on, and head to the restroom with some supplies, to clean and disinfect the toilet and the sink.
One Hebrew Israelite, eleven Orthodox Jews, and 6 Messianic Jews, all arrived at the chapel on time. I confirm in the storage room that there is enough challah bread, juice and four ounce cups and prepare it to hand out to each group. I setup Mr. Escudero and Mr. Quinones at the television stations and play their movies, then fill out the DVD watch log while sitting at my desk. Once services near the end, we wait for our lovely chaplain to call compound and verify we can head back to our units. Like always, I try to be first at the chapel to prepare, and last out of the chapel to verify with the chaplain that everything is off, or locked, and no one is left behind. Once complete I exit through her office and she walks me back to my unit where we find the door is locked. She uses her radio to call the unit officer and let them know we are at the door and we wait a few minutes before being let in.
Back in the unit, and straight to my room. Opening my locker, I grab my styrofoam cup, my bag of Bustelo Instant Coffee, and one pack of sweetener, then walk past three rooms over to the hot water dispenser and fill my cup three quarters of the way. There is a nice foam at the top of the coffee but only lasted long enough to get back to my room. I grab my daily devotionals and read what they have for today.
My heart was touched by two of the three I read today which include:
From the “Stand Strong 365 Devotions for Men by Men”,
“Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage. He has shown us kindness in the sight of the kings of Persia: He has granted us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and he has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.”
[Ezra 9:9]
From this I learned how that even though our lives may seem to be at it’s destructive point (coming to prison), and our difficulties in which tear us down (life problems), God always has a way out for us, a turning point, something better.
“It takes time, but we can always trust Him. He specializes in rebuilding projects.” -Tim Gustafson
We may not see the changes right away, and we know good things take time and patience, so all we need to do is wait, pray, and follow in His steps.
From the “Jesus First for Men 365 Devotions to Start Your Day”,
“God has made all things new, and reconciled us to himself, and given us the ministry of reconciling others to God.”
[2 Corinthians 5:18]
The day I was arrested, and hauled away to the Federal Detention Center in Miami, FL on September 15, 2021, I was placed into a holding cell with an older gentleman who gave me some guidance for when I went up into general population, and once I got there, (thankfully it being during the time of Covid lockdowns) I was placed into a cell with a man by the name of Mr. Johnson, who only had his prescription glasses and his Bible. He brought me the peace I needed in those moments, and he is who brought me into the journey of learning more about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Since then I have done all in my power to commit my life to God and His ways, be “new and reconcile myself to Him, and be given the ministry of reconciling others to Him”. I do that by showing others I am not who I once was, by humbling myself and always trying to find the positive in the negatives, and providing a smile to brighten someone else’s day.
Once I was done with my devotionals, I made myself a little Spam sandwich, with gouda cheese spread, mayonnaise, seasonings, honey, and some crunched Nacho Cheese Doritos. I promised the chaplain I would be back in the chapel on the first move after count, and so I do just that.
My plan was to arrive and help her pick a few songs for the Christian service tomorrow, and guide her in printing the lyrics for each song if we did not have them already. I had told “Bon-Bon”, that I would be going to recreation at 1pm and meeting him there to play some racquetball, so hopefully we get done in time.
The chaplain was busy posting the bulletin for the services, so I waited until she was ready. Nearing 12:50, we still had not gotten around to picking the songs, and they were calling the “rec” move. As I am looking out the office window, I see a light rain coming down.
“Once again, it does not seem like it was meant for me to go to recreation”, I thought to myself, and soon after, it rained so hard, I could not see anything past the window.
“You see chaplain, this is why I just avoid the rec yard at all costs. For some reason God does not want me going out there and I am fine with that. I tried yesterday morning at 9am and it was the only time in the day in which there was no move.” I told them chaplain.
“God is either protecting you from something, or preparing you for something better”, she replies, as we continue in conversation.
I go through and help her in organizing a few papers that were out of order, and organized Chaplain Hostler’s class binder, to make sure everyone scheduled for the next class are where they need to be in the order.
After going through the lyrics binder, she decided on two songs. I pull out the lyrics sheets to prepare them for tomorrow and place them on the desk.
“We don’t have any Christmas songs do we?” She asks.
“Ohhh yes we do, we have a CD titled, Christmas Outreach Music”, I respond.
I go grab the CD, and take it into the office for her to listen and see what songs she wants us to sing in worship. After a few minutes, she easily picked two songs from the disc, and searched the lyrics on the Google search. Watching her use the computer, I can recognize the steps she is taking to copy the lyrics, paste them onto a Word document, and “fix” it up.
“Chaplain, try this. Instead of highlighting everything that way, just hold down “CTRL”, and press “A”, that will select everything quickly.” I tell her.
“Ohhhhhhhhhhh I love that, thank you!”, she replies. “Have patience with me, I don’t like these things”.
I tell her, “It’s no problem, my mom is the same, and still to this day I even help her over the phone with technical things.”
Lyrics are printed, CD with music is ready to go, as it is almost count time. She grabs her radio and calls over to my unit to let them know I am on my way. As soon as I step out of the chapel and look towards the lake, I see the compound officer, and in front of him, down on the cement walkway surrounding the lake, is Mr. Gibson.
“How and why is Mr. Gibson slowly strolling around the compound as if nothing was wrong”, I thought to myself. I begin waving him over, and saying, “Mr. Gibson, what are you up to? Let’s go, it’s almost count time”.
I see him just looking over, hands in his pocket, walking slowly. I walk around the Lieutenants office, past medical and I look to my left to find him walking my way.
“Mr. Gibson, out for a stroll are we?” I ask him cheerfully English accent.
“It’s a beautiful day out, we shouldn’t waste it”, he responds.
“I agree, but let’s head back to the unit, it’s almost time for count”, I tell him and we continue walking over to our unit.
As soon as I get back into the unit, Mr. Campos is looking for me, wondering why have I been away so long, because my roommate was preparing food and has been waiting for me to help. I get to my room, and find my roommate with several bowls on the table, slicing up some sausages, and making what is called a “mofongo” by wetting plantain chips and turning it into a type of paste. He later wrapped shredded pork with the plantain paste, and put a layer of cheese, then laid it on top of the bowl of mixed rice which included more sausage pieces, onions, and more. The evening is simple for me. I am going to stay in, enjoy some television, and eat my food peacefully next to my roommate when it is ready.
The food is ready, and my roommate separated the food, and we went over to our chairs to eat while watching television. The guys were watching the movie “Venom” on one T.V. and on the television next to it was the movie “Marry Me” on Telemundo.
“Eduardo, no puede ser que tu te vas a comer todo eso!!!!”, Mr. Rivero tells me after walking by and taking a glimpse over to my bowl of food.
“Claro que no”, I tell him, “Voy a guardar la mitad para otro momento”.
Mr. Rivero didn’t believe me that I would save half of the food for another time. I did though, it was way too much to enjoy on one sitting. I take my bowl over to my room, empty the food into a smaller bowl and put it on ice. I open my locker, grab my “Ajax” soap, my sponge, all the dirty bowls and utensils and head to the main kitchen area to clean our things.
Time to call mom, so I head to the phones after putting everything away. Due to all the days without being able to make phone calls, I calculated to have about twenty-two minutes per day on the phone, so we blow through the full fifteen minute call catching up on things, mostly because I have not been able to have them visit due to the new visit rotation they are doing. Time for a shower, back to my room to grab things, but I stop at Mr. Campos’ room. At the entrance of his room is “Bon-Bon”, and we get into conversation about what Mr. Campos has planned for when he heads home within the next month. I’m going to miss this guys. As frustrating as he may be at times; as rude as he may be at times; I will be sad to see him go, but happy to see him leave. Once he leaves, I will immediately be moving Mr. Rivero into Mr. Campos’ room to keep him close to me, especially during any lockdowns, he will be able to shower every day, and have more freedom in the Glasshouse rather than locked behind a door in a small room.
“Saturday Night Live” just started and I do not work until tomorrow afternoon, so it might be a late night for me tonight, but knowing me, I will probably be asleep in bed by midnight the latest, so it’s time for me to head back to my chair, with my roommate to my left and Mr. Lorenzo to my right.
Father God, thank you. I can’t thank you enough, because when we tend to have those days where we feel down, Your word is there to lift me back up and keep my spirits high. Thank you Dear Lord, for all the good you do in my life. Thank you for my family, friends and loved ones. I pray Dear God for my brother on his birthday this coming week, that he may have a blessed day surrounded by loved ones. Lastly Lord, I ask that you continue watching over me, taking care of me and guiding me in the right direction. In your name Dear Jesus, Amen.
Eduardo Luis Valdes
02499-506
December 14, 2024
22:23
