I Can't Imagine Being Anywhere Else

It wasn't like I hadn't heard those words before, it was the fact of where I was sitting when I heard them. It wasn't just that I was in a dining hall, but it was where this dining hall was located.

My best friend, Franny, and I had finished singing some Christmas caroles for the Christmas program and I sat across from Hailey whom I had just met. She wore the same orange top and pants, and state issued workboots that every other person in the dining hall wore. The words CDCR PRISONER stamped across the back and down the legs of the outfit made it clear that she belonged to the state. Her crime was unknown to me, but her sweet spirit made me not care what it was. It could have been the most heinous of crimes, but it was clear her life was different. There was peace and love in her eyes.

"How much longer are you here?" I asked her.
"Til July. I get out in July and then I'll go stay with my sister in San Bernadino." We talked a little bit about her family, her mother who had passed away, her father who she never really had a relationship with, her sister who never wrote. But it was all "ok" to her.
"What do you miss the most?" I wondered.
"I miss the simple things, like walking on the beach. That's what I want to do when I get out. I don't really have much of plan because I want Jesus to tell me what to do. I want to follow His plan for me and His will. I want to go where He tells me to go and do what He tells me to do."
"That's a great plan." I said.
"This is really a beautiful place here, you know. I can't imagine what I'd be doing if I weren't here. I honestly can't imagine being anywhere else because this is exactly where God wants me right now."
"That is an amazing attitude to have." One that we could all learn from, especially me. Here, a prisoner of the state up at the Rainbow conservation camp can't imagine being anywhere else. Some would say- that's a good thing because she doesn't have a choice. True, but she has a choice about her attitude, as do we. She could fight it, she could pout, or whine, or rebel but instead she sees it as the hand of the Lord and that this is where He has her for now. In His sovereignty, He has her right where He wants her and she is content to be there-submitting herself to His will.
Hailey, you above most people I know, myself included, understand the true meaning of Freedom. I have been blessed to meet you even if only for a few moments and trust that it was a divine appointment set up by a Sovereign Lord.