Tonight I spent a couple hours with some of my staff and quite a few other volunteers in the Baton Rouge area. We were receiving training from the LA Department of Corrections and Chaplain Gary 
Pearce from Dixon Correctional Institute on the do’s and don’ts of volunteering in the prisons. This was not at the top of my list of what I wanted to do on a Friday night, but this is not about me anymore. When life is all about me, then the world shrinks to the size of me, but when life becomes about serving others and improving the quality of life for someone else, then my world expands.
I’ve heard people say, “you have a heart for prisoners”. No, I just have a heart for people. Helping prisoners was NEVER on my radar. It wasn’t the “ministry” I had in mind, but it’s exactly what God had in mind. I was the one who said let’s “build more prisons” and “lock them up and throw away the key”.
That’s too easy! Teaching someone life skills, work ethic, responsibility, and accountability all takes time, effort, and resources. It’s hard work! Louisiana has the highest recidivism rate of any state in the Union, and that’s not going to change with me sitting on the sidelines. I have to do something. I had to get involved!
I love sports. I never really played “organized” sports, just mostly with kids in the neighborhood. I remember how we would pick teams. I never did like that. I was always the last one picked. I even remember one time I was the last kid left and the team that was suppose take me told the other team that they could have me. When it comes to making a difference in our homes, our communities, and our government maybe we need to stop waiting to get picked, and just volunteer. There is so much good that we can get involved with whether its working with at risk youth, the elderly, prisoners, widows, the poor, or victims of crime. The opportunities are numerous. Just because someone hasn’t asked you to get involved, doesn’t mean that you should sit on the sidelines. Maybe its time for you to volunteer. “He who observes the wind will not sow, And he who regards the clouds will not reap” Ecclesiastes 11:4
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