jail-inmateA portion of a letter written by a young man who is in jail. He is writing to his King’s Courier, letter writing mentor.

Dear James*, this is Matthew Barrow*, the young man that you have been writing to through the youth mentoring program. How have you and your family been doing? I hope all is well. I know it’s been a very long time since I wrote you back. I’ve been having a rough time lately more with myself then anything else really; my mom and family are well which is a blessing. This prison time is not easy, at this time in my life I would truly like to do the things that are positive in the outside world. Like I said I’m having a battle with myself with change. I’m not the same person I was before I came to prison, I’ve grown mature more than I ever have in my life, and not just because I’m in prison. Since I’ve been locked up I truly see clearly how much I’ve been blessed in my life. I know how I’m still fully blessed, GOD IS GREAT.

This situation has been a major wake-up call for me, this situation could have been much worse so I look at the positive all the time which keeps me going forward with the help of God. I am studying for my GED, I workout, jog, run or walk the track in the yard too. I read a lot, my bible, novels, magazines, schoolwork, etc. I work on myself, which takes time, I work on my thinking, self-control, how I react to certain people or situations too. I work on how I treat people, how I carry myself, how I speak when I talk, I do a lot of thinking too. Those were just some things I wanted to share with you. Change doesn’t happen overnight but every day. I am becoming a better person. I’m writing to you to let you know that I did not forget about you, I just wanted to say THANK YOU for your support and time. You have helped me out more than you’ll ever know. I just wanted to let you know how truly grateful I’ve been to have you write to me.”