• Home
  • About
    • Our team
    • Find a Spiritual Director
  • Services
    • Classes
    • Retreats
    • Certificate Programs
    • Workshops & Presentations
  • Areas of Focus
    • Spiritual Formation
      • Certificate in Spiritual Direction
      • Contemplative Journey: A Year in the Christian Spiritual Disciplines
    • Ministerial Support
    • Body Spirituality and Wellness
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Course Catalog
    • Art and Spirituality
    • Benedictine Spirituality, Part 1
    • Benedictine Spirituality, Part 2
    • Contemplative Prayer Practices
    • Communal Spirituality
    • Cultivating Creativity: Art as a Contemplative Practice
    • Held and Loved: On Parenting with God
    • Sacred Dust: Exploring the Relationship between the Body and Faith
    • Silence and Solitude
    • Simplicity: Making Room for God
    • Spirituality of the Body
    • Transformation through Scripture
  • Contact
  • Home »
  • About »
    • Our team »
    • Find a Spiritual Director »
  • Services »
    • Classes »
    • Retreats »
    • Certificate Programs »
    • Workshops & Presentations »
  • Areas of Focus »
    • Spiritual Formation »
      • Certificate in Spiritual Direction »
      • Contemplative Journey: A Year in the Christian Spiritual Disciplines »
    • Ministerial Support »
    • Body Spirituality and Wellness »
  • Events »
  • Blog »
  • Course Catalog »
    • Art and Spirituality »
    • Benedictine Spirituality, Part 1 »
    • Benedictine Spirituality, Part 2 »
    • Contemplative Prayer Practices »
    • Communal Spirituality »
    • Cultivating Creativity: Art as a Contemplative Practice »
    • Held and Loved: On Parenting with God »
    • Sacred Dust: Exploring the Relationship between the Body and Faith »
    • Silence and Solitude »
    • Simplicity: Making Room for God »
    • Spirituality of the Body »
    • Transformation through Scripture »
  • Contact »
 
 
Selah: Center for Spiritual Formation

Center for Spiritual Formation

  • Recent Posts

    • Peace, by Kelli Randolph
    • Spiritual Nourishment
    • Graces Remembered
    • 30-Day Silent Retreat, Part 2 
    • Silent Retreat, Part I
  • Archives

    • December 2022
    • November 2022
    • September 2022
    • May 2022
    • April 2022
    • October 2021
    • May 2021
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • November 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • May 2020
    • March 2020
    • December 2019
    • October 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • April 2015
  • Categories

    • Body Spirituality and Wellness
    • Course Previews
    • Millennial Spirituality
    • Spiritual Formation
    • Spirituality of Aging
    • TPW
    • Uncategorized

Spiritual Support

Sign up to receive our newsletter

We promise to keep your email safe

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

Donna’s Story, Part One

Posted by Jackie Halstead | April 18, 2016

(Note: Today, we begin a new series of posts. Once a week, we will hear from one of our friends in maximum security prison. These women were students of mine in one of two classes I taught – Disciplines for Christian Living and Faith and Culture – at the Tennessee Prison for Women. They are part of the Lipscomb LIFE program, an educational program that enables women who are admitted to earn an associate of arts degree in seven years. Our author today is Donna, a lovely woman who has an amazing heart for the Lordprison photo.)

I am a 58-year old African American. I’ve been homeless, without a permanent residence for twenty-one years. I’ve had to redefine home in an effort to redress personal identity that is normally developed in the notion of home (sweet home). I am currently ‘in residence’ at TPFW (Tennessee Prison for Women). I have very little contact with my family of birth and it’s most often initiated by me. These facts are just the facts. They should not elicit pity, sympathy, or any -athy. My years being homeless were 1995-1997. It was tragic. I felt invisible, incredible rejection. I was without identity. I knew who I had been – a mom, a supervisor, a lover, a friend. My home had reflected those I loved, those who had given me my belief system. “3 hots and a cot” (i.e., prison) was very appealing. “3 hots” was a means to end fear – fear of people recognizing you, raping you, reprimands… fear. Even with this safety, I didn’t set out to end in prison. Yet my choice to drink and do drugs broke community. Without community, a person becomes an animal.

Home is now not a place but a destiny. Each step on my journey leads me homeward to the place in which my heart will be satisfied.

Read on as Donna shares more about her life and walk with Christ in her next blog: Donna’s Story, Part Two

Save

Save

This entry was posted in TPW. Bookmark the permalink.
← Previous Post Next Post →
  • Home
  • About Selah
  • Services
  • Areas of Focus
    • Contemplative Journey: A Year in the Christian Spiritual Disciplines
  • Contact Selah
  • Donate

© 2015. Selah: Center for Spiritual Foundation. All rights reserved.

WordPress website theme design and installation by the MightyLittleWebShop.com