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Many of you have asked about James and Lee’s reunion. I alluded to some hard things in the past week or so. This is one of the hard things.
We were unprepared to discover that James and Lee are not allowed to see each other right now. That was not what the parole officer told me and it is not what we prepared for.
As you can imagine it’s a huge shock to us and leaves us with a lot of questions. We have no clue why this decision was made or what it was based on.
The attorney spoke with me this morning and told me how to administratively file for Lee’s rules to be changed. We pray that she will relent when we file the complaint. The fact of the matter is that Lee is obligated to follow his rules to the letter no matter how much it stinks or how much we don’t like it. Lee is still incarcerated. He is just not incarcerated in a prison. He has some freedoms.
James is doing well. He’s sad of course but we spoke about helping Daddy follow his rules so that he won’t get in trouble.
Should Lee violate his rules, our lives will be incredibly ugly and we are not interested in “going there”. Lee and I cried quite a bit yesterday. The parole officer added other restrictions that we were unprepared for.
He said, “Don’t worry. We are going to be ok and God is going to work this out somehow.”
We are using this as an opportunity to teach James about consequences and obeying authority. Lee said that he doesn’t want James to hate authority or disrespect the police.
I am proud of Lee for wanting to be sure that James learns these lessons. It would be so easy for me to speak disrespectfully about the authority in our lives, but my husband is such a great leader to help me be a good example to our son.
He also said that we are not going to allow the devil to destroy our family. I agree.
Please pray with us about this. I feel in my heart that God is going to do something big and that this won’t be for long. I think that perhaps the parole officer wants to see if Lee is going to disregard her rules right away.
We want to show her that we are different. We also are praying that we will be able to witness to her–even if it’s just by comments we make or by the fact that we are different.
I wonder how much she knows about Lee and his case. Yesterday, she asked me if we’ve ever lived together. I said, “We have been married for 10 years.”
She said, “Oh.”
Sigh!
It’s ok! We’re going to do this and we are going to come out on the other side as a family.
You can just pray for us to remember that our goal is to give God the glory. Often when it feels like our heads are under water, it takes a lot of work to do and be right.
Thank you for your support and love and most of all for your prayers. You are an amazing blessing to all of us.
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This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 at 9:52 pm and is filed under Family, Marriage, Prayer requests, Prison/Incarceration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
will pray.
Thank you!
I am praying for your family to come out of this even stronger.I feel that is what the Lord is doing in your lives right now.
Thank you!
Praying…..Pam
Thank you!
Oh, I am so sorry that they can’t see each other yet. I think you all are handling everything as well as can be and I think your goals are excellent.
II Cor. 9:8: And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work…
Thank you, Barbara.
Owch. That hurts. And I cannot believe she does not know you were married!….actually I can. Big systems seem to do that to people. The wonderful thing is that God knows. He knows your past, present and future. As you have said, He is bigger than the judicial system, bigger than a parole officer and rules. We will keep praying for you all. For strength and patience and the ability ro be long suffering (’though I reckon you already are!). I pray your petitioning will go well- you never know, maybe it will make the officer sit up and take notice of you in a good way. Lots of love and hugs.
I appreciate your prayers and encouragement. Thank you, Susanna.
This must be very, very hard for James. Daddy is so close, yet so far.
I hope and pray that Lee’s parole officer quickly realizes just how “different” (in the best of ways!)your family is from others and she allows you to all be reunited soon.
It is difficult, but we are going to make it. Thank you for your prayers.
I’m a lurker but I wanted to say what a blessing your story has been to me. It’s given me a peak into a life that I’m unfamiliar with and definitely given me a new perspective. You and your family are such a blessing.
I feel God is using you and your family in a big way. That parole officer probably sees thousands of prisoners and they are probably mostly all the same to her. When you and Lee show her that you’re different, it will be abundantly clear to her. You will stand out and be a shining example. Even if she never voices it, she will notice something is different about you and wonder what it is.
You and your family are in my prayers. I pray for God to give you strength to continue to to the right things even though it’s very very hard. I pray you continue to have peace that passes all understanding.
I’ve been through some very hard things recently and Philippians 4:6-7 has been a huge comfort to me.
Thank you, Marilyn for sharing. I appreciate the kind thoughts you’ve shared with me. I’m sorry to hear of your difficulties, but appreciate the verses. I will read them again. Please don’t be a stranger.
I will be praying for the parole office to see her need of Jesus, and accept Him as Savior.
How long until Lee can come home?
This is one of our unknowns.
Frequent lurker, but I wanted to let you know I’d prayed for you. Dear Lord, I pray that you might give Lizzie and Lee peace and a trust in You. I thank You for the work that You’ve done in Lee that he was able to respond as he did. I pray that You’d grant them wisdom and the words to say as they file for Lee’s rules to be changed, and that You’d grant them favor in the sight of authority. May they be a light and a testimony to you. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Heather (mom to 4 children under 7, #5 due Jan ‘09)
Heather, thank you for “de-lurking” I appreciate your prayers so much. Please don’t be a stranger.
We are using this as an opportunity to teach James about consequences and obeying authority. Lee said that he doesn’t want James to hate authority or disrespect the police.
wow and just an awed wow and praying with you….praying and …just praying for all of you.
Thank you for praying.
Oh my. I never thought of him not being able to see him now. That’s a tough one. Still, I’m proud of you both for you attitude. Toe the line and get thru it, in other words “same old, same old” I guess. Still praying.
We didn’t think of that either and we were not prepared for it. God is good to give us his grace to sustain us. Thank you for praying.
I will keep praying for you all….
Thank you!
I was so praying for you all to be together again. I will keep praying for that. I quite often read your blog and am inspired by the bravery that you and Lee demonstrate in you lives. I know that your trust in God is being (and will be) rewarded - faith is such a learning experience….
God bless you both and also your beautiful son.
Thank you, Judith. We appreciate your prayer.
I am so sorry. I am praying for you!
Thank you.
I can only imagine the disappointments and frustrations you must be experiencing right now, Lizzie. I pray that you are encouraged to know that many of us are praying for you to be strengthened and that God will grant favor to Lee in the eyes of his parole officer. ((((Hugs))))
Thank you, Patricia.
I pray that this part goes quickly and you can get on with your lives together as a family. And I pray that when your “boys” do see each other that they bond instantly and permanently in love. And i pray that you will be great witnesses through it all - so far so good! Love, Susan
Thank you!
I’m so sorry to hear about this! it certainly is not what any of us readers would have chosen for your family. We want the fairy tale “happily ever after” ending NOW. (at least I do)
Isn’t it good to know that even though we don’t understand, God not only knows but is in charge of everything that is happening?
I’m praying that this restriction will be lifted soon and that Lee will be able to come home soon as well.
Love you, Lizzie!