Letter #4 to a Woman in Prison

Today is a day for writing. I wrote a letter this morning but found myself with a need to write another not one, but TWO, this afternoon. Letter #4 is below. Each woman who attends the prison ministry weekend I’m volunteering at will receive a hand-written letter from each volunteer.

Dear _____,

Have you ever been angry? I have. To be honest, I’m angry right now–not at you. I’m angry because life isn’t easy and people lie and scam and are abusive.

I get angry when other people do me wrong. I get angry when things don’t go as planned. I get angry when other people nit-pick stupid stuff and try to use their “control” over me as a way to feel powerful.

Sadly, I just did that. I just was angry and yelled at someone I love. Probably because I wanted to make someone else feel what I was feeling. Misery loves company. What I did was wrong and I will apologize for yelling.

But I won’t apologize for being angry. Anger is an emotion. It’s not an “attitude problem.” Anger is a real emotion, just like fear, love, and happiness.

And having a feeling isn’t wrong, even if others tell you not to feel that way. You have a God-given capacity to feel angry. God gave you your anger. Wow. Yes, I just said that. And it is true. We are created in God’s image, and He feels angry too.

What matters is what do we do with our anger? Its good (and healthy) to feel our anger, to identify it, and find out what is causing it.

It’s not ok to take it out on others or dump on them in small ways just because we are having a bad day. We have to find healthy ways to deal with our emotions and focus on helping ourselves. For me, it helps me to write – to journal – and to read books that help me learn to manage my emotions.

Praying for you and me.

In Jesus’ Name,

Rachael Hartman

Ephesians 4:26

 

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I’m raising $150 to pay for one female inmate to attend the Kiaros prison ministry I’m volunteering at. It may not seem like a lot of money, and you may think I should just pay it myself, but I can’t pass up this opportunity to share the blessing of having you join with me in prayer and support for this weekend. As well, if you understood the time, energy, and travel commitments of each of us volunteers, you would understand why I’m asking for help in raising the financial piece.

If you would like to donate to the prison ministry, it needs to be in the form of a check made out to: KPMI (which stands for Kairos Prison Ministry International). In the memo put: Pulaski, GA. You can mail it to me, Rachael Hartman, at: PO Box 501, Bloomingdale, GA 31302. If you want a tax credit, include your full name and address on a note and they will mail you a tax receipt.

Thank you so much for your support and prayers! Every $5 goes to pay for a meal for one of the inmates that weekend. The meal will have a tag with your name on it. And we will have a paper chain link that will also have your names on a link to show that you have prayed for and invested into the weekend. Praise God for what He will do! Please keep me in your prayers as I will be speaking on Obstacles to Accepting God’s Grace, and sharing part of my own testimony in the process.

To add your name to the prayer chain (which will be visualized with a paper link chain – your name will be on one link) please leave a comment below. And please pray for Kairos #40 ~ Pulaski Women’s State Prison in Georgia. Kairos weekend happening August 25-28, 2016.