Your Season Has Weight | Mornings with Mico

That's half of the morning to y'all. This is, uh, morning's with me, Cole. I'm, um, be brief today, man. Um, I'm definitely high-key still in this, uh, reflective, um, state, after my visit to JCCC. Um, boy, it's not in there, really, then just crept into my heart, man, and just been camping out there, man. I've just been praying and talking to God, just about, you know, what I experienced down there, what I see he's doing down there, and, um, just ways for us to even be involved. Um, when you recognize God is doing the thing, just go where he is, right? I, um, today, though, man, I think, um, I was having a conversation with, um, one of the field ministers, and that's what's really kinda, like, inspired, you know, the kind of, the talk today, um, we were talking, and we were just talking about life, and he was just sharing, you know, like, how things have been down there, and how they are now, and talking about family, and just kinda what his journey has been like in prison, and, um, his hopes, and with the, you know, for the future, things like that. And somewhere along the way, when we were talking, as he was kinda, like, given a rundown of, like, the journey up until this point in prison, he was like, but, but, I mean,

I haven't been down that long, right? Like, um, and I asked my mother, "How long have you been down?" We said eight years, and I wanted to write then and then stop, um, and I didn't, so that's why I'm just having this conversation now, but when he had said that, I guess, 'cause down there, like, writing a problem around a lot of prisons, but then boys down there being, then boys down there doing a couple of decades, plus with tales, you know what I mean? So it's like, I get, like, in certain spaces, right? We can have this convoluted mindset of, um, because someone else's, you know, the way that they're carrying, how many years they're doing the time they're doing is, this amount, it makes this other amount, not as heavy, right? And I'm reminded of a conversation that, um, when I was locked up one time, it was me. I was wrapping up six. I was with, um, one of my old Gs, he was doing, like, a seven and a half, I think, or something. Somebody was doing 17, and the other one, other guy probably had, like, uh, 50 or something like that, 50 to life, whatever, something like that. And I was kind of having a conversation with them, just about, like, you know, life and what I'm dealing with and stuff, and then I was like, but I mean, I get it, it's not, it's not the same amount of times,

a child doing it, so with them. And my, um, my old head was like, uh, was like, hold on, no, don't do that. It's like, that's theirs. Hey, doing what they doing? You're doing what you're doing. The way that they, the time that they doing, don't make yours any lighter. The load they're carrying, doesn't make yours any lighter. Like, that's what they're doing, this is yours. This is, you know what I'm saying? And really kind of helped me to, like, lock in at mindset, like, to get away from that comparison, mindset as you're looking at time. And I wanted to do that for my guy when we were talking. Because eight years is a long time, bro. Like, this isn't normal, right? Being locked up, set apart from the world, from your family. Like, there are people whose lives will be better with you home, with y'all home. Like, let's not, let's not, like, gloss over that. Like, no, that is a long time. Regardless of how much time somebody else is doing, you've been down eight years, bro. No, that is a long time, man. You know? And really, I think I have, like, two challenges. One, for the person in that seat of the person who's, like, looking at their time and it doesn't, maybe it doesn't add up to the amount of time somebody else doing to not let their time diminish

what it is that you're doing and what God is doing to you and the amount of time, like, the weight of what you're feeling. Like, God has specifically placed that amount, the amount of pressure that he wants to place on you to produce what he wants to produce in you. And he, you know, you don't have to compare it to what somebody else is going through. Like, no, God knows what he's doing. That is a long time. You know, don't let somebody else's time diminish yours. And if you are, that's the challenge for that person, but then the challenge for the person who, maybe you are doing a stretch, you know, even longer than that, right? Like, you, I think, bro is doing, doing 17, you know? Some people might look at it like, I don't know if I'm going on. I don't know how much time I'm doing. You know what I mean? Not to diminish what your weight is, either. But to grow to the mindset where you don't allow the heaviness of yours to downplay somebody else's. That's, that's, that's a construct of prison culture, And I want to challenge, you know, all of us like lean into that, like not even creating atmosphere to actually go against the atmosphere that produces that mindset, right? To downplay a certain amount of time over another amount of, like, no, like, let's move in the opposite direction.

It's not kingdom. That's not reality. That is just, that is, that is a mindset that is born in prison and needs to die there. So, yeah, I'ma leave it with that, man. That's, that was just heavy on my heart, man. Shout out to our boys down there at JCCC, man. I can't wait to get back. I'ma be in Texas already in a couple of weeks. I can't wait to link up with y'all, man. And just continue to see what God is doing in these spaces and find our footing as we continue to explore ways for us to be more in the forefront of this prison initiative man. Let y'all have a blessed one.