On Friday April 28, we were notified that David will be serving his prison sentence at Lompoc Federal Prison Camp in Lompoc, California. This is not what we had requested and we were shocked that he is being placed over 800 miles from home. We had been told that the Bureau of Prisons usually grants a request for placement at a specific institution about 90% of the time. They do not tell you what reason is behind the decision to send someone to a different location. The closest federal prison is in Sheridan, Oregon, which happens to be my home town, so we had requested that David be sent to Sheridan. It was confusing and upsetting that our request was denied. We have prayed for the best location for David since he received his sentence of 28 months, so I have to believe that Lompoc must be the best location.

We had planned for the children and I to move to Sheridan if David was going to be in prison there. Since it’s my hometown, I have many friends, family, and a church that are committed to supporting us. Several of my high school friends’ parents worked at the prison in Sheridan, and I felt like I had more reassurance that my husband was going to be well cared for and no harm would come to him if he was at Sheridan. Now that he has been designated to Lompoc, the Lord is reminding me to trust in Him and not in my friends who work at the prison in Sheridan. I have been and am still at times terrified for my husband’s safety. If you recall, we were in a terrible accident on June 29, 2020. David was nearly killed in the accident and he received a traumatic brain injury which still gives him problems. Some of the issues he has are severe, debilitating headaches, fatigue, memory loss, and light sensitivity. We have been told by multiple medical professionals that if he is ever hit in the head again, he could die or have permanent brain damage. The parole office has all of David’s medical information, the judge had all of his medical information, the bureau of prisons has all of David’s medical information, and yet they still insist that he go to federal prison.

The children and I are planning to stay in Idaho because we have no connections at all in Lompoc California and the cost of living is considerably more than it is in Idaho. We also have a lot of community support in Idaho which is going to be vital during this extremely difficult time. It seems like nothing we have planned in past few years has happened as we thought it would. Lompoc is 893 miles from our house according to Google. This means that visiting David while he is incarcerated is going to be challenging. I know that the Lord is with us, and I pray that He will enable us to stay connected even through the distance and incarceration.

Since David was sentenced, I have joined several online groups for families of prisoners. Many people with loved ones in federal prison talk about how difficult it is for their family member to receive medical care while incarcerated. One person was recently asking for help because her brother had been denied medical care which eventually resulted in him dying of a heart attack. There were over 15 documented requests for medical care over several months, but his requests were continually denied and then he died. I know that I must keep my focus on the Lord! I will literally go insane if I do not keep praising God for His faithfulness and goodness! But it is disgusting and terrifying that my husband is being sent to a place that has so little regard for human life. It is disgusting and terrifying that any prisoner can be treated this way. I know that God is in control! Please, please pray for my husband’s safety! And please work for prison reforms and justice reforms! Prayer is the most powerful thing that we can do, but we must also put action behind our prayers! One simple way to advocate for prison reform is to ask politicians to visit a prison. Local and federal politicians make many laws about what happens in prisons, yet most of them have never actually visited a prison. Please write to your state and federal law makers and ask them to visit a prison.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

2 Corinthians 3:17

Unfortunately, since people in America have rejected God and have chosen to go their own way instead of following God’s best plan for their lives, the United States of America is no longer the most free nation in the world. In fact, we are not even in the top 10 countries for freedom on any of the scales listed on Google. While this is cause for great concern, we must not blame one group or another. This problem is not going to be solved by blaming and dehumanizing groups of people. This problem is only going to be solved if we humble ourselves, turn from our sin, and pray for the Lord to heal our land! Please join me in praying for David, our family, and for our nation!