I am not very active on Facebook. While I haven’t deleted my profile (too much history), I seldom post anything and don’t spend too much time on it. Yesterday I did do some scrolling and I came across the blog of Carol Kent. I met Carol several years ago when she came to Cape Town to speak at the Colour Conference. I was asked by the organiser to drive Carol and her husband Gene to Cape Point. I also got to interview her for CCFm. What an amazing woman. If you have never heard of Carol, she is an American author and speaker. She became better known after her son (an only child), Jason, murdered a man.
How does one come to terms with that? It’s been 18 years and on Facebook and in the public eye, Gene and Carol Kent seem amazingly calm and content with life. But it is absolutely not easy, as she wrote in her latest blog, which you can read here.
One thing she wrote in the blog struck me. She writes,
“I soon realized that many good changes had taken place in my life during my unwanted foray into the world of jails and prisons. For all of us who face the challenge of incarceration, there is a new reality—what will we do now, with this life we have, with all of its imperfections, embarrassment, and sadness?
Our survival tools are very simple:
- Accept the reality that our loved one is in prison—and use our knowledge of the system and the legal process to help others.
- Maintain relationships with friends and family members, even when we are busy dealing with our incarcerated loved one.
- Make plans for birthday celebrations, family reunions, and vacations, special things that take us away from the demands of incarceration.
- Discard guilt! Acknowledge that a meaningful life needs to be a permanent part of our reality. “
As I read those words, it struck me how they can be applied to any torrid circumstances. It’s a case of filling in the blank.
“For all of us who face the challenge of _________________, there is a new reality—what will we do now, with this life we have, with all of its imperfections, embarrassment, and sadness?”
It could be sickness, depression, financial ruin, wayward children, divorce, grief – the list is endless. The survival tools apply….
- Accept the reality that __________________ is in our life—and use our knowledge of the system and the process to help others.
- Maintain relationships with friends and family members, even when we are busy dealing with our ________________.
- Make plans for birthday celebrations, family reunions, and vacations, special things that take us away from the demands of ________________.
- Discard guilt! Acknowledge that a meaningful life needs to be a permanent part of our reality. “
What wise advice. What motivation to keep on going.
Here is Carol with her son Jason, who remains in prison…
You can listen to his story…
http://www1.cbn.com/video/finding-hope-and-meaning-in-jesus
There is hope. This life is not all there is. We can live in freedom while here on earth. The best is yet to come.
Psalm 42:1-2
As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for You, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before Him?
The Lord knows.
Today has been a pleasant day.
I did a bit of work (only 3.5 hours). I met my friends at 11 for a quick chat and Mike and I got to meet a builder at Echo Rd for another opinion about building there. Hopefully, something will get off the ground in that department (literally would be good!)
This evening we picked up Julian.
#655 of my 1000 thanks – the best thing about 9th May is that it is the day Mike and I got engaged in 1986. We celebrated!
These are the days.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you.
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂
Gym:
- 5km run – 34:22
- Swim – 32 lengths. Today I felt I broke through a barrier in the pool. I swam 32 lengths of freestyle, stopping after the first ten to demist my goggles and after length 20 to have a sip of water. I think I’m getting fitter!