Prepared

Six weeks into my incarceration, God challenged me to list the ways in which he had prepared me not only for prison but also my greater calling: to serve in prison ministry and start a foundation for children of incarcerated parents.

The first preparation that came to mind brought me back to my childhood. As a kid, I had fun going away to Girl Scout camp, so I had already experienced and learned to cope with homesickness. And because I attended both a Catholic grade school and high school, I was accustomed to wearing a uniform like the one I had to wear in prison.

God also made me smaller-bodied, so I fit just fine on the bed in my cell, which was basically a metal tray with a thin mattress, affectionately nicknamed “The Slab.” I came up with more than twenty other examples of how God prepared me for my time and assignment in prison. At first, I wasn’t sure how I would minister to my fellow inmates. But then a friend mailed me a card featuring verses from the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15.

The first thing to understand with this passage is that the Bible often identifies God’s people as the Lord’s flock. In biblical times, one hundred sheep was an average size flock for a shepherd of modest means, so each sheep was of great value. It was worthwhile for a shepherd to search diligently for the lost one. And our job as disciples, or people who believe in and follow Jesus, is to help find the lost sheep and bring them back into the fold. Trust me when I tell you that I didn’t have to look too far to find lost sheep inside prison.

Sure, the environment was less than ideal—small cells, shared toilets, and meals that sometimes left me ill. But none of it discouraged me because the Lord reminded me that he had already prepared me for all of this, and he promised to help me every step of the way.

Look back on your life and see how God prepared you for the challenges and trials you’ve experienced and will inevitably continue to experience, as we all do. He uses tough, uncomfortable, painful situations to mold and conform us to his image so that we can be his hands and feet, his ambassadors, to others.