As a person who has committed felony murder, and subsequently served the last 30 years in prison, it’s extremely important to me that I find a way to make some meaning out of all this madness. The tragic events that crushed so many lives around me have impressed upon my heart to demonstrate every day that I live in a way that respects the burdens I created. It was my responsibility to those I’ve harmed to manage my shortcomings. I failed miserably as a youthful offender to fully understand the gravity of my decisions, and yet, as an adult, I get it. Now what?
For starters, I’ve leaned into my faith in God and my belief in Jesus Christ. Through Him, all things are possible, even making amends for unimaginable crimes. Nothing is too big, or too small to lay at His feet and to ask for forgiveness. This is my beginning, middle, and end when it comes to seeking redemption. He is my rock and I’ve built my quest to find meaning upon the belief that He has a purpose for me. May His will be done in my life at all times.
As we know, faith without work is dead. I’m not sitting by just waiting for things to happen, I’m seeking them out. I ask for guidance daily and make changes in my direction whenever an opportunity to do so presents itself. This is how I follow God’s will in my life, and how I find that much desired meaning.
With that as my backdrop, I’ve shared my journey of transformation from a criminal to a man with integrity in both of the books God guided me to write. Lessons Learned: From Playground to Penitentiary; and Convict Logic: From Leadership to a Better Life, are testaments to His grace and mercy. I feel honored to have been chosen to share God’s ability to change the hearts of even those who have fallen so far from society’s grace that they seem to be irredeemable. I assure you, with God on my side, I’m anything but irredeemable. To prove that last statement, I paid my own way through college working at a job in the prison shops. I’m still taking classes even though I completed as associate of science in business. Beyond that, I recently finished an Alpha course, volunteer as a peer support specialist, and I’m president of the Circle of Concerned Lifers organization. It is through these platforms that God is able to use me as He sees fit, and a blessing to have an outlet by which to serve. I believe I’m well on my way to making meaning out of the madness. What do you think?
Contact Info:
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Todd L. Cook #47656
P.O. Box 22500
Lincoln, NE 68542-2500
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