Have you ever experienced a full circle God moment? Several years ago, I remember seeing a video of Lauren Daigle on social media visiting Statesville. It caught my attention and stayed with me, even planting the thought of I wonder if that’s something I could do one day…when we opened our Sheridan campus in 2025, I thought back to that video and knew this was probably something that would happen, but nothing could have prepared me for our first experience leading worship in prison.
I came into the experience not fearful, but more anxious at what the experience would be. The unknowns are often the hardest to grapple with, and I kept praying that God would help me be fully present as we entered the prison’s weekly service and led worship. I had been told these men worship fully, but as we sang the words “Holy, Holy” and 117 inmates cried out to our God who is HOLY (set apart), nothing could have prepared me for that moment. It is a beautiful gift to hear people praising God, and to hear a roomful of men cry out to God from prison is something I will always remember.
I had many interactions that day, but two stuck out to me. The first was with a man who introduced himself as being part of the “band.” I asked him to tell me more, wondering what that entailed. He mentioned he and his friend had had the opportunity to do worship with Lauren Daigle, and that his video was on YouTube. I immediately recognized him, because that very video is the one I had seen many years ago, and just a couple of days prior had watched with my son as I explained to him that his dad and I would be leading worship for our Sheridan campus that weekend. He couldn’t believe I had seen the video of him and was so excited! I love full circle moments like this!
The second interaction was centered around one of my favorite worship songs, Reckless Love. We hadn’t intended to sing it that morning, however we had some time to fill, and so we were asked to do one more. I knew that was the song, and as we walked up to the front, someone yelled-can you sing Reckless Love? YES! After the service, a man approached and asked the name of the song. He was especially caught by the bridge:
There’s no wall you won’t kick down, lie you won’t tear down coming after me.
There’s no shadow you won’t light up, mountain you won’t climb up, coming after me.
What he said to me will stay with me always: “I’m in here for armed robbery, and I used to kick down doors to steal things. You’re telling me that GOD kicks down walls for me?”
YES! I said, trying not to get emotional. The Spirit took over and spoke through me. Let’s turn this around, I said. What you used to do, you no longer must because God is coming FOR YOU. We can exchange one for the other.
THIS is true for all of us. We cling to our past, to our mistakes and failures, not willing to let God turn them into good. Not only does this hinder our growth and our lives, it keeps us from seeing and sharing His glory. When we let go-God’s compassion and mercy gets to shine.
I’m so honored to have had this experience, and I pray for these men and their hearts, as well as the volunteers and “Prison Pat” as they serve this campus. We are looking forward to going back soon and I can’t wait to see what God has in store.