Happy Birthday

On May 27th, 2014 I turned 50 years old. A time for celebration for most people, but I was locked up, behind bars, at the Regina Provincial Correctional Centre, not part of my life-plan. My anticipation for the day was really poor and I had told only one person it was my birthday. I was in a really down mood as the day approached, because seriously, who wants to spend any birthday, especially a milestone birthday, away from friends and family, and most of all locked up? My plan for the day was simple, I’d spend most of the day in my cell, away from everyone and only come out for meals and my exercise time (more on that in a future post). I planned on getting in some reading of the Bible and other materials and maybe write a letter to Judy (something I did ALL the time – in total I wrote 43 letters to Judy while incarcerated, an average of 1 every 4.5 days!)

God, however had other plans for me. I sat down to write my letter to Judy, telling her how down I was due to the day and some of the other things going on around me. In the middle of the letter, without foreknowledge I committed my life to Christ. In fact I wrote the words in the letter to Judy, before I even knew I was doing it! I have no other explanation for what happened, other than it was God telling me it was time!

The image is an actual excerpt from the letter I wrote to Judy. God has a way of being there for you always, and at my lowest point He showed me the way.  That day got progressively better after that.  I left my cell and went walking around with stupid smile on my face.  Other inmates noticed that Paul looked happy and mentioned it, but I didn’t tell them why (yet), I wanted to bask in Jesus’ glory alone for a while.

Later in the day, as our weekly canteen purchases arrived, I got my first jar of peanut butter, a small thing in most eyes but huge in jail where food quality is really poor, and made myself a peanut butter and banana sandwich, with bananas I had kept from my weekly ration.  That sandwich was the best sandwich I had ever eaten!

Further in the day, I was given a job, delivering food to the unit, due to the previous inmate losing the job due to a fight.  You don’t have to work in jail, but doing so gains you certain rewards and priveledges, so this was a real bonus.

My 50th birthday was not the best day of my life due to the circumstances, but it certainly wasn’t the worst as I had anticipated.  God picked that day to show me that He loved me, and showed me that things would get better.

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