This past week, I participated in a prison fellowship out of Houston, Texas. This is my third time visiting and speaking with inmates at the Carol Young Medical Facility. This facility is a women's correctional institution for any prisoners from Texas who are sick and/or having surgery.

I am always happy to visit with and to hold these women. Unlike male prisoners, women don't get many visitors. Some of the ones I meet here are as low in spirits as you can possibly imagine. And then there are others who have experienced a spiritual transformation that is a joy to behold.

Someone once asked me: "Why do you do that? Those people are there for a reason!" I know that. I believe in reform just like I believe everyone should have the opportunity to know God's love and I believe in helping.

Some day many of them will be free and then what? Real change takes place on the inside. For those who think "People don't change" I am here to tell you that when you bring God into the mix, it is possible to see change as well as miracles. I have seen things that I would not believe if I had not seen them with my own eyes. Someday, I'll write a book about these miracles.

And yes, while there are those who deserve to be there, need to be there, and are doing time for very hard crimes, there are also those who aren't so different than you or me. In my journey in the last year and a half, I have met moms, grandmoms, sisters, and daughters behind bars.

Not long ago, I met a soccer mom who had one too many drinks at a Christmas party and hit and killed someone on the way home. She was taken away from her life, her children, and was suffering the worst anxiety wondering if her family would be waiting for her after she had served her time. The shame is unbearable.

I met a wonderful mother of seven, a nurse, who was there because of an addiction to Ambien (a prescription sleeping pill), and wrote a false prescription to obtain it. That is a federal crime for which she received 35 years. While incarcerated, she has done great things but what she dreams about is the day she will get to go home.

The Prison Fellowship Ministry has started faith-based dorms for the girls and women who want to change, want to know God, and stay as far away from dangerous inmates as they can. It's in the infancy stages but has a great future.

The moral to this story is this. Love truly does heal. Love of God, love of mankind. We all have the ability to change a life today. Not everyone who is in prison is behind bars. Sometimes people are in their own prison for things that aren't considered a crime. Illness can be a prison, so can loneliness. Anything that doesn't let someone enjoy life to its full potential can be a prison.

"So what can I do?" you may be thinking. Reach out to someone today who might need your help. Maybe it is taking a pet to the vet for a working friend or going to the store for an elderly person. The elderly are the loneliest people I know. They tell me that what they miss most, is being touched with love and treated with respect.

Do some little thing. Hug someone. Smile at someone. Do some thing to make someone else's life a bit brighter today. What is a little thing to you can be a big thing to someone else.

Maybe we can't change the world but we can make a ripple. And one ripple will lead to another one and before you know it, there is an ocean out there of good feelings. An ocean that keeps on growing and growing and spreading joy throughout our world.

The blessings aren't bad either :)

You are THAT powerful!

Love For Sure,
Cat