Anger.
Isolation.
Uncertainty.
Dread.
Fear.
These were the emotions I felt as my first Christmas behind bars approached. As far as I was concerned, there would be no Christmas in prison. But when that first Christmas arrived, my view dramatically changed by a simple act of kindness that was shown to me through the sock project.
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As I sat in my cell with the new socks that had been given to me, I was greatly humbled. I began to reflect of Christmas in the past. I had taken everything for granted that I had been given. Those things soon lost value to me and nothing was even satisfying. Yet that first Christmas in prison, through a stranger’s act of kindness and compassion, I was feeling humility, gratefulness and joy for the first time that I could remember!
The socks that had been given to me now served as a two-fold purpose. They kept my feet warm through the coldness of prison, and they were used as a tool to bring the spirit of Christmas back to the coldness of my heart. To some inmates, they were just socks, but to me, I found Christmas in a sock!
I have never forgotten that first Christmas in prison. Every year the sock project has served as a reminder and a motivator to me of how a simple act of kindness can greatly impact those it reaches.
My dear friend...
Jennifer spent 11 years at Arkansas' McPherson State Penitentiary where she shares, "That was the best thing that happened to me." It was there that she trusted Christ as her Savior. After spending much time in the Word of God and upon release from prison in May of 2011, she no longer was serving a sentence, but instead was serving the Lord. Today she is the Denominational Chaplain at the prison where she was once incarcerated and also serves as the Program's Director of Cornerstone Transition Home in Newport, Arkansas. (In her "spare time, Jennifer enjoys cooking, tackling any home renovation projects and lovin' on her three doggies!)
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