Greetings

Week 26 of the lockdown 😞.

COVID-19 cases; Dixon: confirmed staff 14, recovered staff 10, confirmed inmates 15, recovered inmates 1 | Sheridan: confirmed staff 15, recovered staff 15; confirmed inmates 20, recovered inmates 20.

Another favored SOCPM student, Torrie, has gone home. Torrie, a SOCPM student, not quite a year, enrolling in May 2020, was a quieter student, maybe his age of 45 was a factor, would on occasion ask an engaging question. Torrie’s going home is another bittersweet moment. Since the COVID-19 lockdown, I've had 27 bittersweet moments as 27 current SOCPM students have paroled. If and when classes resume I'm quite certain the max number of students per class currently 40, will be reduced significantly. I was concerned out of the current enrollees how would it be decided who could return and who couldn’t. I sadly chuckle, at the rate of guys being paroled it may not be as big an issue. I sadly chuckle, but for me personally, I have a moment of true sadness. I love these guys and yes I celebrate with them on going home or to a halfway house, but it’s a friend, where the class was unable to pray for in his last class and I wasn’t able to say good-bye to.

I apologize for last week’s broken links to the Student and Ministry Prayer pages in the initial sending. Though I tested the links before sending I apparently didn’t do enough thorough testing. I hope I do this week but I’m one of those who no matter how much I test, something always slips by 🙃. Before I started this week’s newsletter. I reviewed the content and layout and made a few changes. The most noticeable is I changed the ‘Weekly Message’ to ‘Weekly Notes.’ I felt this made it more clearer that the ‘Weekly Message’ was not a SOCPM message.

Speaking of the ‘Weekly Notes’ they came from this week’s midweek message by Joe Thorn Self Help vs. Self Control- Part 2. A follow-up to last week’s message Self Help vs. Self Control- Part 1. Pastor Joe looked at five areas of our lives where we can begin to address the practice of self-control in the areas of faith, love, work, health, and rest. My biggest conviction was self-control in the area of health. The great majority of the foods I love 😋 fall into the unhealthy category. As for those foods that are defined as healthy, they fall into my YUK 😝 category. As for exercising, I again fail in an area I self-control in my need to do more. I am trying to motivate myself to join my wife Michelle in her almost daily walk, but so far not so good. I’m up to maybe one per week 🤣.

The exercising bit gives me a good transition to share Michelle and I will celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary on September 13th. Though words can begin to sound the standard words one may say on such an occasion, I truly am blessed that God brought Michelle into my life. I use to grumble to God why I had to wait so long for Him to bring a godly woman into my life and He would remind me of Hebrews 12:11 NIV, ‘No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.’ and then He would add on ‘if you want a godly woman you need to be a godly man.' I learned I had a lot of training to endure but I eventually was blessed with a woman who has a great love for the Lord, she's beautiful, has compassion for family and others, way beyond patient with me, and is gifted with many more qualities that I’m undeserving to have in a wife. She was my bride on September 13th, 2008 and to this day, when I talk to her I call her my bride. Happy Anniversary Michelle - I LOVE YOU. Thank you God and may our marriage glorify You.

From a happy note to a bummer note SOCPM on ZOOM was canceled last week. Because of other commitments and a health issue I decided to cancel the study. My hope and prayer are next week we will start the hands-on study of 2 Timothy.

I completed SOCPM's Church Connect page. The churches listed have partnered with SOCPM in welcoming paroled SOCPM students to their church family. The page isn't exactly the way I wanted it design-wise but it will work. Once I was able to overcome an issue I was encountering when I would add a church, adding all the churches was time-consuming but task accomplished. I've made a few more updates to SOCPM’s website but nothing worth sharing. I'm planning on doing updates and perhaps some design changes next week to the Ministry Connection page.

To Him be the glory in ALL things and to Him alone!

Scott Kalas
Soldiers of Christ Prison Ministries