My Trip to the Pen

Last weekend I did a mission trip to Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, LA.

The first reaction I got for every one about my trip is "Are you scared?"

My answer was always NO!

I felt like it was something that I had been called for and was excited. 

I really did not know what to expect when I got there. 

All I knew the program was for the inmates and their children. 

(So I guess there was a little anxiety in not knowing.)

I have been on mission trips before and was expecting blessings.

I was not expecting to be moved in the ways I was. 

I felt love, compassion, sorrow, and pain. 

I spent the day with 1 family that included:

1 father and 5 children--3 girls and 2 boys. 

They ranged from 17 to 7 and I was their mommy for a day.

(I love that they named me that.)

And that is exactly what I did. 

I chance kids, held hands, wiped tears, hugged, fed mouths, 

made sure everyone got to do what they wanted, and all get loved on by dad. 

(Kudos to all you moms out there.)

I felt like I had known them forever. 

We had a blast. 

Not only was it fun but it was a blessing. 

I was reminded that each inmate is a child of God. 

When God sees each man that is what he sees...not the crime. 

For that day I saw the men too. 

The program was a Christian program, 

but I didn't have much time to talk about God. 

(Kind of hard to take away the attention of their daddy on this one day a year.)

Even though I left that family physically,

they have been with me each since. 

I can't stop thinking about the family....the dad. 

I know that what he did was wrong and devastating. 

But he is human. Just like me. 

He was born into the same sinful world I was. 

He makes bad decisions just like I do. 

He has consequences like I do too. 

God loves us both in spite of what we have done. 

And in God's eyes his sin is no worse than mine. 

God wants us with Him equally. 

I know that not every one will share my thoughts on prisoners. 

I am not here to argue with anyone. 

I am just sharing my experience. 

I felt the presence of God that day on the prison grounds. 

I also felt God's pain. 

He doesn't want His children to sin, 

but He also doesn't want us to hate or judge each other. 

I am blessed that for that day my heart broke like God's. 

Oh the places I'll go

10 Days of CARY: Day 4

Oh the places I’ll go…

I love to travel.

I grew up traveling all around the country.

I have been to Mexico, Canada, The Grand Canyon, 

Washington D.C. 2x’s, and lots of other places.

There are still lots of places that I want to go though. 

Here are my top choices.

New York City

Hollywood

San Francisco

Las Vegas

Seattle

England

Italy

Paris

I have already visited many of the states

 but I think it would be cool to say I’ve been to every state.

Where are some places that you have visited that I should add to my list. 

That Girl

10 Days of CARY: Day 3

I am that girl…

…that will send the most random text messages with the goal of letting someone know they are on my mind and hopefully make them smile.

…that will sit in the middle of the floor at the book store to read books off the shelf.

…that gets supper excited over getting an email address at work.

…that girl that gets excited over the little things in life.

….that doesn’t watch a lot of TV but always has it on. I like the sound of conversation.

….who will sing every word of every song on the radio even if I don’t like it.

….that sings along with the songs playing in stores.

…..that hits the snooze button for about 30 minutes every morning.

…..that checks Facebook and Twitter way to many times a day.

….who jokes around with people that I like.

...who likes to be silly.

....who really does care about the people that will read this blog. 

What's the name about?

Ten Days of CARY: Day 2

As all you bloggers know the blog name is SOOOO important. 

It has to be special and represent you. 

And if you read my post yesterday, each blog post is a little part of me. 

Little piece of Sunshine is more than a name to me. 

I have had many nicknames in my life time....

Sunshine was one of my favorite names. 

It represents some of my most memorable complements. 

So thats how I came up with it....

each post is a little piece of me that I want to share with you. 

**image found on google.com

Why I Blog

Ten Days of CARY: Day 1

Today is 10 days till my birthday. 

30th birthday at that. 

So I thought that what better way to spend the days leading up to my birthday 

then letting you get to know me. 

Today I decided to tell you why I blog. 

I know that I have not been consistent with my blog in a while. 

But you have to understand that my post are not just post they are a part of me. 

With my job, somedays I just don't have anymore to give. 

I promise that I am working on learning how to balance because I do what to blog more. 

I love it. 

When I started blogging in 2008 the blog was anonymous.  

I was still using and really depressed. 

There were many days that I had no hope and wanted it all to end. 

I was afraid to open up and tell someone how hopeless I was. 

So I started a blog and shared my feelings through pomes and writing. 

Some of my first writings were the some of the darkest days in my life. 

Then after I got sober I wanted to continue to share my journey. 

I wanted to talk about the good things that were happening. 

I wanted to share with the world how amazing God had been in my life, 

and share of hope that He can offer. 

I know my blog is not the best. 

Like I said before I am not the most committed person. 

I enjoy this community. 

I enjoy sharing my story and my journey. 

So the bottom line is I blog because it is an outlet for me. 

I like to blog. 

I like to share. 

I love meeting new people and getting to know them. 

I love that blogging is a way to meet people that I may have never known before.