Found Guilty

  I have struggled with this blog, it's a skeleton in my closet, but it will bring glory to God.  I was 19 and had committed a crime that could have put me in prison  for 10 years.  I remember thinking it's my first offense, and I shouldn't get more than probation.  When the date of sentencing came the judge said "I'm giving you a lenient sentence: 1 year in the state prison".  My heart almost stopped.  I was sure that I had heard wrong, then reality started to set in.
   When I arrived in Sioux Falls and I was escorted into the correctional institute, the sound of that steal door closing is something I'll never forget.  This was my new home for the next 12 months. There I was a father, husband, son, grandson, and a Christian.  How could this happen to me? Sin.  The one thing that was the most interesting to me was that I was the only guilty person in the whole place.  Most were there because of being framed, or they were just driving the car when the crime was committed, not many accepted responsibility.  I accepted responsibility before I arrived.  If you tell yourself that someone else is to blame long enough,  you start to believe the lie.
  Twenty three years had gone by and I was hunting with my friend Chet.  We had gone into a field that I thought we had permission to hunt.  I could tell that Chet wasn't sure.   Are we on the right land?  When he told me he wasn't sure the Holy Spirit immediately convicted me.  I couldn't take the chance.  A convicted felon possessing a firearm is a felony, and I had lied to myself long enough.  I gave the gun to Chet and told him my story.
   A few days went by and I accepted responsibility for what I had done.  I called the parole office and asked if there was any way that I could ever own a firearm?  The parole officer asked "how long ago was the crime committed?"  I said "about twenty years".  He said that I could apply for a pardon exceptional. I did and was told that it would take about two years.  Within seven months I was granted a pardon.
  God is bigger then any problem we have.  He knows the right time to restore back to us the years that the locusts have eaten.  When we can admit, and take responsibility for what we have done He can and will move on our behalf.
  The state of South Dakota granted me a pardon, from one sin.  The Lord Jesus gave me a pardon from all sin.  When I start to give up hope, and we all do.  He reminds by this part of my history how big, loving, and gracious He is