Chain

At about 11:30 pm on Monday, March 8th, our CO Miss Parker came in with papers for the four guys catching chain the next day.  

One of the guys who was recently sentenced is on friendly terms with her and he went up to her desk as she was arriving there.  He was talking to her as she went through the paperwork checking who was on chain and when they were leaving, and whether it was an airlift or not.  When she was done with that, she locked the papers in her desk while she stepped back out.

I watched all of this happen while I was laying in my bed on the far wall.  I knew there was going to be a chain but didn’t think that I was on it, so I was reading a book to wind down before I went to sleep, just as I did every night. 

After Miss Parker went back out, I walked over to where the other inmate was talking to a couple of guys and asked him if he was on chain.  With a smile, he said, “not me, but you sure are”.  He went on to tell me who two of the other three were, but he didn’t see who the fourth one was.  He also said it was an airlift and that they would be sending for us at 6 am. 

So now that I was leaving, it was time to get my pictures and other items that I wanted to keep ready to send home.  As well as give out stuff to people who asked for it when I leave.  I got done organizing all of that at about 1am.  I also talked to my neighbor about calling a few people first thing in the morning to let them know that I had left.

I got all of that done, plus said some goodbyes (possibly forever) to some guys who I had grown close to.  I’m going to miss a few of them a lot. 

I wanted to get a few hours of sleep before the very long day that I knew was ahead of me.  I laid down and tried to sleep, but it never came.  I was at peace with leaving and only just a little bit nervous about the unknown of what was ahead of me.  But for some reason my pulse and blood pressure were up…I guess it’s my reaction to being a little nervous and even excited about finally getting to my designated yard.

After about 4:30 or so, I decided to just get up and finish getting ready.  Just then breakfast showed up and I was planning on just staying up after we had our breakfast anyway.  We had eggs, salsa, black beans, cheese, oatmeal and a tortilla.  I had eaten light the day before and I was planning on eating light again that morning now that I was on chain.  Once we leave, bathroom breaks are rare and not very fun so it’s a good idea to plan ahead, lol.  So, I just ate the eggs and a little bit of the oatmeal.  After that I went and took a shower as I had no idea when the next time would be that I’d have the chance to shower again.  I also brushed and flossed my teeth thoroughly for the same reason. 

At 5:30, I noticed that an inmate was already on a tablet.  I thought that they didn’t come back on until about 6:30 which is when the phones come on.  I decided to see if they had shut off my account yet and they hadn’t, so I was able to send out a message to the same people that I had asked my neighbor to call. 

I heard that there were 70 people on the same chain that morning (it turned out to be 60) so I knew that there was a chance that it would be later than 6:00 when they came for us.  I figured that our unit would be the last one to be processed out due to the fact that we are PC and they wouldn’t allow us to mix with GP.  I was right, so at 6:30 I checked to see if my phone account was still working, and it was!  I was able to spend about an hour and half talking to my wife and got to talk to my girls too before they went to school.

Finally, just after 9:00 we were told that they were ready for us, so we followed Ms. Bingham out, giving a few fist bumps on the way out.  Including one to my favorite CO, which is a huge no-no, lol.  I’ll leave that person’s name out for now.

R & D is where we are processed in and out of a facility.  I hadn’t been in there since July 2nd when I went from the SHU to H-unit.  It has two rooms, one with two big holding cells and one very small one, along with an office and an open area with a door and a few pieces of furniture.  The other room has one big holding cell, a few more desks and another office.  We were first put in the second room in the big holding cell, but they had about ten females that were also on chain and they hadn’t pulled them out yet.  Behind the office in this room was a hallway that went around it where they would usually have people wait to be seen by medical on the way in and out.  So, they decided to put us four from my unit over in that hallway while they continued to process us, and they brought the females into that holding cell.  Just like PC, they have to keep the females as separate from everyone else as possible.  Eden is a private facility, and they have a contract with the Marshal Service so a lot of what they have to do is part of their end of that contract.  (From the time of arrest until the arrival at a BOP prison, we are in the custody of the US Marshals.)

The rest of the chain which was about 45 GP inmates were all in the two large holding cells in the first room.  As soon as they were done and loaded onto a bus, they moved the four of us into one of those holding cells to finish processing us.

Once we were over there we were uh….thoroughly searched, changed into our street clothes, and secured with cuffs, shackles, and a chain around our midsection that secured the cuffs close to our stomachs.  Because we were on an airlift, we didn’t have to wear the “blue box of death”!   The blue box of death is what I call the plastic box that is placed around the chain between our cuffs which covers up the keyholes as well as severely restricts any movement at our wrists.  It also adds a lot of discomfort as they tend to dig into our wrists.  I think that some of the officers enjoy that part of it.  But for whatever reason when we’re going to be on con-air it’s not required.  I’ll gladly go on con-air to avoid the blue box of death!

There was one last inmate who was in the SHU that they brought out last to be processed.  He was in the SHU for fighting with some Pisces inmates from what I understand.  Once we were all processed (which took maybe and hour and half? – at this point I had lost any sense of time) they loaded us onto our own bus. 

The four of us were in the back section which normally holds about 30 inmates.  There are also two cages back there which is where the inmate from the SHU was put.  He’s a younger Hispanic gang member and he’s been my neighbor here until last night and I’ve not had any issues at all with him.  He would have actually been fine with us, but it’s policy.  The front section of the bus, which holds maybe twelve inmates, is where they put the females. 

The other bus held the other 45 or so inmates so it must have been absolutely packed.  No thanks!  Our ride was relatively peaceful, which was a lot different than I expected. 

We went from Eden to the Midland International Airport.  The trip was only supposed to take about 2.5 hours, but it took us over 3.  At one point the lead bus pulled off of the highway and stopped on the frontage road.  This is something that never happens unless they have a very good reason.  Even if someone has a heart attack, they only have certain places where they are allowed to stop.  I never found out why we stopped for that long though.

We got to the airport around 2:30ish pm.  There were already busses and vans lined up waiting for the plane to arrive.  It was supposed to land at 3:10 but because of high winds it didn’t come until around 4:00.  This gave us time to eat and use the bathroom.

First it was potty time!  They let the dude in seg go first.  They let him out of the cage to walk back where we were to use the bathroom, then the four of us were allowed to use it.  As each of us were done, they moved us to the front of our section so that they could let the females go back there and use it.  It was very awkward to be this close to females after we’ve not been allowed to be anywhere near them for so long.  It’s almost like church camp, lol.  Us four and the guy in seg are all respectful and we’re also not dumb so there were no issues at all. 

Next, we got to eat our lunch, Johnny sacks.  It’s a brown bag with four pieces of bread, two pieces of turkey bologna, one piece of “cheese”, four cookies, an apple and a small water.  The last Johnny that I ate on a bus, I only had about ten minutes to eat until they said we were done and had to throw them away.  So, I ate and drank fast!  They had an extra bottle of water and no one else wanted it so I took it. 

Once the plane arrived, all of the buses and vans got into place.  First, the plane was unloaded, and those inmates were put onto the waiting buses and vans which were probably all going to different places.  Next, they unloaded the GP bus from Eden.  They had about five Marshals outside to search each inmate before they were loaded onto the plane.  Next was the females and then us four and the dude in seg were last.  All of this took a very long time.  It was probably almost 6:00 before I got onto the plane.

Con-air has always had a bad sound to it in my opinion.  I’ve always expected it to be a horrible experience.  It was actually the best leg of the trip by far.  It’s a regular plane except for the first few rows on the left were gone and a row of seats facing the back were there for the staff to watch all of us thugs.  Also, the tray tables were gone.  The seats were comfortable, and the other inmates kept to themselves.  It was like a normal flight.  I even dozed off a couple of times and when I woke up it felt like a normal flight with the exception of the cuffs and shackles. 

When we were about to take off, an inmate a couple of rows up and to my right got up and attempted to change seats to an empty row.  One of the staff members yelled for him to sit back down.  They have zero tolerance on con-air for obvious reasons.  He told the staff member that he would have to kick his ass to make him sit down because he couldn’t have anyone sitting behind him.  This dude had obvious mental health issues but again, they have zero tolerance.  Two staff members wrestled him back to his seat and buckled him in.

Later, a female staff member came and talked to him as he was still having a hard time.  He was obviously having a panic attack, but he was also being very respectful as well.  I believe he honestly thought if someone were behind him that he would be killed.  The female, who had some common sense, allowed him to move to a row without anyone around him.  We were all thankful for her compassion.

Once we got to the OKC airport we were offloaded and put onto two buses. We were no longer separated from GP at all with the exception of the females who got a van.  The bus that I was on was packed full. 

We left the airport around 7:15 pm and made the hour and a half trip to Cimarron Correctional in Cushing, Oklahoma.  Speaking of Oklahoma, do you know what you call a pretty lady in Oklahoma?  A tourist, lol.  Or at least that’s what I heard in Texas 😊  I actually like Oklahoma myself.

The bus ride was not fun.  I sat next to a guy that was in our unit at Eden for about a week.  I didn’t know him well because he mostly sleeps a lot.  After I sat next to him, a bunch of “white boys” sat around us.  White boys are white guys who conform to the prison mentality and practice prison politics.  They have no tolerance for SO’s, snitches, or homosexuals.  They are the reason I had to be in a PC unit at Eden and the reason I have to be very careful here and in the BOP.  Because I’m white, they would target me if they knew who I was.  The Mexicans and the blacks wouldn’t really bother me at all.  Each race polices their own people.  Prison is extremely racial.  I was blessed in Eden to be in Delta, and we all got along fine in there.

The bus driver put on a mixed music station and cranked the volume, making an already out of control crowd noise even worse.  The loudest guys were having to yell at their homies to be heard.  Lots of fun!  But we were pretty much ignored the whole time and it was fine.

Once we arrived, our bus pulled into a garage area and we were offloaded.  First, we were given a medical examination which consisted of being asked if we were having any emergency medical issues at that time.  This was after climbing off a bus in cuffs and shackles and waiting in line.  That should have answered that question, lol. 

Next, we walked through the compound until we got to one of the two Delta units.  We still had our shackles and cuffs on, and they had been on for almost twelve hours at this point.  They weren’t too tight or horribly uncomfortable, but when you walk with shackles on, they rotate back and forth around your ankles a little bit with each step.  Each step at this point was pretty painful.

On our way over to Delta we were told to pick a cellie.  The guy from Eden Delta and I agreed to it immediately.  Another guy and I who had spent the past 8+ months with and who I had grown close to were going to stick together, but we got split up at the OKC airport.  (He ended up catching chain the next day from the OKC detention center to his California destination.)

In Delta we were put into two-man cells and our restraints were finally removed.  Next, we were strip searched again and given clothes, bedding, and hygiene along with a jacket and a property bag.  They told us we could sleep as it would be a few hours before they took us to our actual unit. 

Not long after that, Medical came by to put an extra long Q-tip up my nose and they gave me my CPAP machine.  My cellie told me that usually they put the Q-tip up a lot further, but I don’t know if that’s possible!  I told him I’d take his word for it.

After a lot of unwinding and talking, we both went to sleep.  It didn’t take much because of the lack of sleep the previous night and the long day that we’d had.  At just after midnight, they woke us up and told us to line up with about 15 or so others.  They said that we would be in A-south, cell 225.  That’s where I am now, laying on the top bunk writing this.  It’s Tuesday, March 16th and I’ve now been here about a week.  I definitely miss Eden and my people there.  Oso, Pato, Cook, Trey, Larry, Sam, Jeremy, and a bunch of others that I’m blessed to have spent a lot of time with.  

I probably would not mesh well some of them in the world, but in here we’re brothers.

Cimarron is OK.  In quarantine we are locked down about 20 hours a day.  The unit is pretty nice and it’s mostly calm.  We have 32 two-man cells on the top floor and 33 on the bottom.  We have a large day room on the bottom floor with tables, chairs, 3 TV’s, and ice machine, microwaves, and commissary kiosks.  We have about 8 phones and hardly ever have to wait to use one.  We also have the same tablets that we had in Eden as this is also a Core Civic facility.  The facility itself is much nicer than Eden, very clean.  The staff seems a lot more professional as well. 

We are scheduled to go to GP later this week, but I don’t know where I’ll go.  I’ll let y’all know about how that goes down later!  Thank you for the continued prayers as I navigate this next step in this journey.

With love 💙

Safety

 

Love

 

Prayer Shawl

Being able to attend the chapel services here has been pivotal for me in my life here.  If I remember correctly, they started back up having services here at Eden in October.  I had forgotten how good it was to sit and listen to someone teach the Word of God.

In November, Chaplain Conklin taught about the Jewish prayer shawl.  She had one with her as an illustration and it was beautiful.  So, I did a little bit of study on it myself and found that it has a lot of correlation to our spiritual life.

In Numbers 15:38-41, God instructs Moses to have everyone make fringes on the border of their garments.  This border would be made of blue string or twine.  This fringe on their garment, or what we would call a prayer shawl, represents God’s word.  Verses 39-40 says that “it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go a whoring: That ye may remember, and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God.”  

It was a reminder of God’s 613 commandments of the Torah, the Five Books of Moses, that He had given them to follow.

This garment was a long, narrow piece of cloth that one would wear over their shoulders.  They would use this to cover their heads while they prayed, using it as a prayer closet for protection.  They would wear this on their shoulders most of the rest of the time.

In Deuteronomy 32:11, Moses is describing to us how God shows His love and protection to His people.  He says, “As an eagle stirs up her nest, flutters over her young, spreading abroad her wings, takes them, bears them on her wings”.  

The second time that the word “wings” is used here, the Hebrew word that’s translated as wings is “ebrah” which just means feather or wing that a bird uses to fly.  But the Hebrew word that is translated into wings the first time is different.  It’s “kanaph” which is an edge or an extremity of a bird or an army that is used for protection.

This Hebrew word kanaph is translated into wings 75 times in the Old Testament.  I won’t go into all 75 times because y’all don’t have that kind of time.  I do, but you don’t 😊.  So, here are just a few of them:

 

-In Psalm 61:4 David says, “I will abide in thy tabernacle forever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings.  Selah.”  The covert is the covering and protection that His wings provide.  The wings of God is a picture of God’s word, just as the wings of the prayer shawl represents the Word of God.

-In Psalm 36:7 David tells us how excellent God’s loving kindness is when we “trust under the shadow of (His) wings”.  In verses 8-9 David says, “They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and they shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures.  For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.”  David trusts fully in the Word of God!  His writing shows his faith in action.  It’s as if he has fully immersed his life into the Word of God.  The Word of God is light. (John 1)

David said in Psalm 119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path”.  Then Solomon tells us “for the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life”.

So in Psalm 36:7-9, David says that while we hide in the shadow of protection that God’s word provides for us, His word gives us light.  The shadow is not darkness to us, but it’s a shadow that prevents our enemy from approaching us.

-The third passage is Psalm 57:1, “Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me; for my soul trusts in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.”

There are many promises of God in the Bible. 

The most important promise to me is the promise of an eternal home in heaven because my faith for salvation and forgiveness of sins is upon the sacrifice and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:16-17, 5:24, 14:1-3, 1 John 5:13)

In Psalm 57:1 we can see a few promises of God.  First, I want to point to a promise that seems negative, that there will be calamities.  

In John 16:33 Jesus tells his disciples, “…In the world ye shall have tribulation: be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”  In this world, and in this sinful body, we will always have troubling circumstances.

The Crabb Family sings a song called “Through the Fire”.  It says, “He never promised that your cross would not get heavy, and the hill would not be hard to climb”.

This is where His other promises come in.  He promises that He will show mercy to those who trust in Him.  Mercy is us not receiving the punishment that we’ve earned by breaking a rule or law.

In prison, it’s common to hear inmates talking about applying for clemency.  On his way out of office, President Trump gave clemency to quite a few people as is tradition for a President to do on their way out.

Mercy is receiving a pardon instead of a punishment.

Grace is receiving the unearned favor of God.

Mercy and grace go hand in hand when we’re dealing with God.  Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith, and not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”

Putting our trust in God’s word provides us with mercy and grace.  

I love that; instead of receiving something negative, God doesn’t just put us back to zero, but He gives us an increase.  Mercy and grace is of God.

He promises to provide us with protection.  This promised protection is not against any physical issues but is a spiritual matter.  This is a protection against our #1 enemy, Satan and his angels.

Satan is not a scary red horned, pitchfork carrying demon.  He can be a beautiful angel of light.  2 Corinthians 11:14 says, “For Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light”.  He is a great counterfeiter of God.  

He is a master of making the ungodly seem godly.  

Verse 15 of 2 Corinthians 11 says, “Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to his works”. 

Jesus tells us about how good Satan is at deciet in Matthew 13:24-30.  

He tells the story of a man who planted good wheat in his field but then his enemy came in at night and planted tares, which is an unfruitful weed that looks just like wheat until it is harvested.  His servants wanted to go and remove the tares, but the man told them that they will be separated out in the harvest.  Satan is good at distracting us from God’s order in our life with what we think we should be doing rather than waiting for God to lead us.

Satan is also a musical angel, as we see in Ezekiel 28:13 – “…the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou was created”.  And then in verse 17 we see that he is a beautiful angel. “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou has corrupted thy wisdom by reason of brightness”.

Our enemy is too strong for us to defeat on our own.  When we rely on ourselves to overcome our lusts (of the flesh and of the eyes, greed, pride, selfishness, foolishness) we will undoubtedly fall.

Proverbs 3:5-6 instructs us on how to avoid falling into the traps that are set for us and how to keep us on the right path.  “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”  “In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”

James 4:7-8 tells us to “Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.”  Our only defense against Satan is to come in close to God.  

Micah tells us in simple terms how to accomplish this in 6:8: “He has shown thee, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of thee but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”  

There is protection from our enemy.

Going back to Psalm 57:1, there is a promise that the “calamities” in our life are temporary. 

The complexity of emotions that I have had and that I still have, I don’t know if I can ever express in a way that anyone who has never been in my position could understand.  I know that the reverse is true as well, I hope to never have to understand what it’s like to have a loved one in prison.  

The ups and downs are rough, but they are double for me knowing that I put my family in the position they are in with me.  Yet, God provides comfort to all of us - as it says in 2 Corinthians 1:4,  God "who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God". 

I still have peace most of the time right now, but it has not always been that way.

One phrase that I repeat to myself a lot is, “This is only temporary.  Someday, I’ll get out.”  Granted, it’s a long temporary, but it will come to an end eventually. 

No matter if you’re locked up or free, calamities happen daily.  Whether they’re tiny or massive, we will always have troubles in life.  But each one is only temporary, it will not last forever. 

First of all, once this life is over our troubles in this flesh will be over.  The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:17-5:8 tells us that our “light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory”.  In verse 4:18 he tells us to focus on the unseen rather than the seen (our calamities) because “things which are seen are temporal”.  

They rise up and then go away. 

In verse 5:1 he says that this tabernacle, or temporary body, will dissolve but we have an eternal body waiting for us.  And finally in verse 5:8 we see that awesome truth and promise that when we (born-again believers) die, or leave this body, we will be with God!  I love how Paul puts it, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord”.

Not only will our current circumstances change in eternity, but they also change daily, monthly, and annually.  It’s like riding a really long rollercoaster, lol.  There are ups, downs, in betweens, tunnels, and even loopity loops.  

The trick to riding life’s rollercoaster is found in Philippians 4:11-13, “Not that I speak in respect of want; for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.  I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.”

The trick is to have contentment no matter where you are on that rollercoaster.  In my opinion, seeking shelter under the shadow of His wings is having contentment until the calamity passes.

One more passage to look at is Mark 5:25-34.  Here we find a woman who has had “an issue of blood” for twelve years.  This means that she would have been considered unclean for those 12 years.  She heard about Jesus and decided to step out and seek the healing that only He provides, as she had already tried the physicians, spending all of her money.  

She reached out and touched His garment and was immediately healed.  She had already reasoned that if she “may touch but his clothes” that she would be made whole.  I believe that it went beyond just touching his clothes, but actually touching the hem of His garment. 

In Matthew 14:34-36 we see a multitude seek Him out in order to touch that hem so that they could be made whole.  I believe that hem is the fringe of His shawl that represents the healing, protecting wing/Word of God.

For me, this means so much.  After my arrest, the reality set in after about two days.  The first two days were so chaotic that I didn’t have time to really comprehend any of it.  It was on Friday the 13th of December 2019, sitting in the seg cell in Mansfield when the reality hit that my life as I knew it was over. 

The climb out of that pit has been hard, but well worth it.  There were three times in the next two weeks that fueled the first few steps for me.

The first was the calls I made to my parents who offered unconditional love and forgiveness.  The second was the first letter that I received; it was from one of my sisters.  I underlined a certain portion of that letter and I sent it home to save it, as she offered unconditional love and forgiveness, and told me that my sin would not define me in their eyes, that I was still the same man that they always knew me as.  And the third was a conversation that I had on Christmas with someone who had more to be offended by than almost anyone else.  They offered unconditional love and forgiveness. 

Do you notice a pattern?  Unconditional love and forgiveness.  That is what God’s word provides for us, unconditional love and forgiveness.

I have experienced what I believe to be supernatural, miraculous, forgiveness.  I have been made whole by simply trusting in the wing of God, the hem of his garment, the Word of God. 

Growing in the Lord is absolutely a process.  I’ve recently found a program called Celebrate Recovery and it is helping me a lot.  It outlines a great process in which we can examine ourselves using the Word of God and we can make adjustments in our life according to the Word.  Would you believe it if I told you that it all revolves around Godly grace, mercy, honesty, and forgiveness?

I will finish with a great passage from Psalm 19 –

(7) “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.”

(8) “The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.”

(9) “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever: the judgements of the Lord are true and righteous all together.” 

(10) “More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”

(11) “Moreover, by them is thy servant warned: and in the keeping of them there is great reward.”

I love y’all!

Book Journal - Harry Potter 3-7

I have finished reading the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.  These books were very well written and are relatively long.  

“The Order of the Phoenix” is 870 pages if I remember right.

The third book is called “The Prisoner of Azkaban”.  It’s about a murderer named Sirius Black who escapes Azkaban which is a prison for convicted wizards and other magical people.  The prison is guarded by the dementors which are creatures who steal and feed on human joy.  They are mostly controlled by the Ministry of Magic to guard Azkaban as well as Hogwarts during this book. 

It is suspected that Sirius is after Harry Potter, so Hogwarts receives the extra protection of the dementors.  Harry and company must now add trying to stay safe from a murderer as well as the dementors.

It’s a lot of fun reading about how they get through their school year.  Tensions grow between Harry and Hermoine, Ron, and their classmate Draco Malfoy as well as Professor Snape.

It was sometime during this book that I suspected that Snape is not as evil as he seems.  This is only due to the amount of trust that Dumbledor puts in him.

This book, just as each of the other books, ends with unseen twists and is once again building to the unavoidable war with Voldemort.

 

The fourth book, “The Goblet of Fire” is a lot of fun and was great to read too.  We are introduced to students from other countries as they gather for the Triwizard tournament.  Harry and his friends are one year too young to enter, but somehow Harry’s name gets passed to the magical defenses of the Goblet of Fire and it chooses him as one of the champions to compete in the tournament.  Harry has to battle dragons, survive under water and rescue hostages from the merpeople.

This book takes the story into a darker plot twist and we also see one of the main characters lose their life to an evil madman.

 

The fifth book is “The Order of the Phoenix”.  Now that Lord Voldemort is back, a resistance is reforming.  Harry and his friends now face ridicule and humiliation from the media and most of their school for believing that Voldemort is back. 

Dumbledore seems to be pushing Harry away, and frustrations boil over as Harry faces his future of having to someday battle Voldemort and his army.

This book continues the descent into darkness as evil continues to rise and starts its control over much of the magic world. 

The final battle of the book reveals a lot.  Harry finally faces his inner demons and also loses another close friend to an evil murderer.  But now alliances are formed, and Harry begins to build his own army. 

Through each book, Harry’s mysterious past comes to light a little more.  We get to see Harry and his friends grow up and come of age.  In this book, Harry figures out that girls exist, and he has his first relationship.  I’m not approving of the girl, but that’s because I’m rooting for someone else!

 

The sixth book is “The Half-Blood Prince”.  Now we find Harry having to have private lessons with his least favorite professor, Professor Snape.  He must learn to close his mind to Voldemort before Voldemort figures out a way to use their connection against him again.

Snape has finally been given his dream job as the Defense Against Dark Arts teacher.  Because Snape is no longer over the Potions class and because Potter has some help from notes that are in his used Potions textbook, he is now excelling in the class.  The notes were written in the text book years earlier by a very smart but mysterious student who referred to himself as "the half-blood prince".

Harry and Dumbledore bond while Potter receives one on one training from the headmaster.  Once Harry is ready and he completes a task, the headmaster confides in him how Voldemort can finally be defeated.  They are even able to go on a mission together which turns out to be what seems like a horrible turn of events. 

Harry finally starts to get close to who I think he should be with, but (spoiler alert!) the book ends with him still being single.

By the end of this book, my guess about Snape seems to be resolved, but I’m not telling you if I’m right or wrong though 😊.  You should read it!  And, once again a main character and one of Harry’s closest friends meets their end at the hand of evil….or did they?

 

The seventh and final book is called “The Deathly Hallows”.  After an attack from Voldemort’s army, Harry and his friends have to flee.  Now, separated from the rest of the Order of the Phoenix, Harry and those he trusts must find their own way to figure out how to defeat Voldemort.

Everything goes wrong for so long before anything goes right.  Evil has taken over the whole world.  Magical people as well as muggles are being killed or kidnapped every day as they build their kingdoms. 

Many more main characters lose their lives as Harry has to figure out on his own the sacrifices that he has to make in order to take down Voldemort.

The final battle of this story is epic!  I can’t wait to see it played out in the movie.

 

The way that J.K. Rowling captures the imagination is great.  I’m usually good at predicting endings and spotting clues, but she is very good at creating unforeseeable plot twists all while answering questions and resolving most of the issues.

I will not give away the ending or even give you clues as to how it all goes, but it’s good.  The only question I have is….what was with the weird baby-like creature in the last book and why didn’t Dumbledore explain it to Harry?

UPDATE: I did figure out the answer to this question, but I won't spoil anything by revealing the answer!

Once I finished the Harry Potter series, I started on a new series called Quantum Prophecy.  It’s a nine-book series which follows young superheroes as they battle against super villains.  After I read the first book, I was not impressed at all, but then I noticed the “ages 9-11” on it, LOL.  I plan on eventually finishing the series and once I’m done, I’ll write about it.  If you have pre-teens, it will fun for them. 

Love y’all!

Love

 

Book Journal - Quo Vadis

Not long after I arrived at Eden, one of the Chaplains gave me the book “Quo Vadis” by Henryk Sienkiewicz.  I had my wife do a little bit of research on the book for me.  The author wrote it in the late 1800’s.  He wrote it in Polish and this edition was translated into English in 1992.

Just like “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” and “Cilka’s Journey”, this book is a fictional story that follows historical characters and events.

Gaius Petronius is a close advisor to Caesar Nero, the Emperor of Rome.  His nephew is a war hero named Marcus Vinitius, who falls for a young woman called Ligia. Ligia is the daughter of a Ligian king.  She was taken by the Romans as a hostage in order to keep the Ligians from being a problem for Rome.

A man named Ursus had been her bodyguard since she was a baby, and he was still her servant.  He had almost superhuman strength, which comes in handy when you are the bodyguard for a beautiful princess.

She has been raised by two Roman citizens named Aulus Plautius and his wife Pomponio Graecha.  Aulus was also a military hero and he and his wife lived very comfortably.  Pomponio is a Christian woman but Aulus is a pagan, although he allowed Christian influences in his home so Ligia was also a Christian.

When Vinitius goes to his uncle for advice on how to convince Aulus to give Ligia to him for his wife, Patronius has an idea.  He convinces Nero to take her into his palace and then give her to Vinitius instead of trying to convince Aulus to give her up.

Nero’s current wife, Poppaea Sabina, is an evil and jealous woman.  As soon as she spots Ligia, she becomes jealous of her beauty and fears that Nero will replace her with Ligia, so she begins to plot against her.

Nero only plans to follow through with giving Ligia to Viritius though, but not until after he throws a party filled with wickedness.  Once Ligia realizes what she is about to be given into, she decides that she will either escape or die trying.  That’s where this story turns into an adventure full of deceit, murder, and God’s love.

This is an amazing story that’s put right into the middle of a horrible part of human history (A.D 62).  Nero is famous for his wickedness.  He had his brother, mother, two wives, and most of his advisors murdered.  He is also responsible for the murder of thousands of Christian men, women, and children in the Colosseum.

This is a hard book to read.  The author did an amazing job of investigating the events and characters surrounding this story.  The way that the Christians were murdered was brutal.  Here is a little piece of what happened as told in this book:

“When the sound of trumpets was heard in various parts of the garden, as a sign that the spectacle was to begin, each slave put his torch to the foot of the pillar. The straw, hidden under the flowers and steeped in pitch, burned at once with a bright flame which increased every instant, consuming the ivy and rising to embrace the feet of the victims.  The spectators looked on in silence but the victims on the pillars gave out groans and cries of pain which resounded throughout the gardens.

Some of the victims, however, raising their voices to the starry sky, began to sing, praising Christ.  People listened and their hearts were filled with terror, especially upon hearing the fearful cries of children (some so young they can barely walk) and seeing the agonized squirming on the pillars.  It did not take long for the flames to engulf them.”

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves reading.  It is beautifully written by someone who put years of research and work into it long before airplanes and Google.

The title of the book comes from the end of the story when the Apostle Peter is fleeing Rome with a friend named Nazarius.  

Peter sees Jesus walking toward the city and bows before Him, asking him “Quo Vadis?” which means “where are you going?”.  Jesus replies that he is headed to Rome to be crucified again because Peter is fleeing the people whom Jesus commanded him to lead.

As Peter gets back up and heads back toward the city, Nararius asks him “Quo Vadis?”, to which he replied, “to Rome”.

Book Journal - Harry Potter

I have started reading “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling.  My twelve-year-old daughter is reading through the series so I thought I would check it out too.

The author does a great job of telling a story.  If you’re like me and have not ever read any of the Harry Potter series, I’ll tell you a little bit about it.

Harry Potter is orphaned when Voldemort, who is a powerful wizard who went bad, kills Harry’s parents, and tries to kill him too.  Even though Harry is just a baby, Voldemort is not able to kill him.  Instead, Voldemort is somehow defeated, although some suspect that he did not actually die.  The attack left Potter with a lightening bolt scar and also left him without parents.

The book begins with Harry being brought to the doorstep of his mom’s sister’s house by Hagrid.  He is now going to be raised by his aunt and uncle who are Muggles (normal people).  They already have a son who is the same age as Harry.  This family - the Dursleys - had disowned the Potters because they were strange.  So, Harry is treated very poorly by them.

On Harry’s 12th birthday, Hagrid shows back up to prepare him to go to Hogwarts which is the best wizard school in the world.  He finds that Harry has been mistreated and lied to about who his parents were and how they died.

Harry and Hagrid spend the next day purchasing everything that he needs for his first year at school and Hagrid does his best to shine a light on who Harry really is. 

As Harry starts his first year at the school, he struggles to fully understand who he is and how he fits in.  But through his newly found friends, Ron and Hermoine, Harry quickly learns and excels at Hogwarts and lives up to the reputation that he earned as a baby. 

Of course, evil is very alive and well within the students and staff at Hogwarts.  It’s up to Harry and his friends to pass their classes while fighting against unseen forces that threaten everyone at Hogwarts.

I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading the whole series. 

 

 

Book Two “HarryPotter and the Chamber of Secrets”

This book starts with Harry being back at the Dursley’s house with his Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and his spoiled cousin Dudley.

Just as they had done before his first year at Hogwarts, the Dursleys treat Harry with contempt.  Only now, they know that he is able to perform magic and so they fear him.  That is until Vernon finds out that Harry is not allowed to do any magic outside of the school.

Harry finds a creature in his room named Dobby who is a house elf.  Dobby refuses to give any details, but he warns Harry that there is foul play planned for Hogwarts this school year.  Of course, Harry ignores the warning and is able to make the trip to school despite Dobby’s attempts to stop him.

As the school year moves forward, a cat – which is hated by the entire student body – is discovered by Harry and his friends.  The cat is assumed dead, but soon they discover that it’s not dead but frozen.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione discover that the evil creature behind this is in the Chamber of Secrets and is controlled by someone at Hogwarts.  Soon, one of Harry’s best friends falls victim to the creature and anyone could be next.

Harry and company have to find out who and what are behind the attacks before anyone is killed and Hogwarts is shut down for good. 

This book, and the series, is written with teenagers and young adults in mind but these stories are a lot of fun to read for adults too.

After reading this book, my favorite characters are Ron’s family the Weasleys.  His two older twin brothers are a lot of fun, and his younger sister joins them as a first-year student.  She becomes an integral part of the story in this book and has become one of my favorite characters.

I cheated and watched the 5th movie the other day.  I wanted to see how the series progressed and it definitely develops into an exciting adventure.  I won’t watch any more so that I don’t ruin anything else for myself.  My daughter got upset with me for watching it, lol.