"The Lord sets the prisoners free."
Ps. 146:7
Our boys' mother is in prison. I won't go into any more detail than that. I figure it's safe to share this for 2 reasons.
1. Imprisonment is public information. The only way we found out was by googling (I'll discuss that more later).
2. We need to pray, and I want as many people lifting this woman up as possible.
K-man and B-boy have had scheduled visits with their mother (we'll call her T) for several months now - twice a week at the courthouse. T rarely attends, but she attended a visit on October 4. After October 4, she stopped coming once again. My husband and I had just been told recently that we could google T's name and find out a lot of interesting information. Since we feel like no one else involved with this case is doing sufficient research, we decided it was time to turn to google. When we googled her name, my heart stopped. The entire google image directory was filled with mug shots - the earliest one dating back to when she was only 17 years old. We found out her birthdate - only a few days shy of my husbands. We were litterally smacked in the face with a dark picture of this woman's life up until this point. On a hunch, I googled her name once again after a week or two of missed visits, and I discovered that she had been arrested on October 5. Then, I proceeded to e-mail everyone involved in the case to share the news. Let that sink in and convince you just how broken this system is...
Anyway, this is when the story gets interesting! I have a dear friend at church who does faithful work in prison ministry. I have frequently shared with her our situation and asked her to keep her eyes peeled for T from time to time. I went to this friend and shared with her the news that T is, once again, in prison, and I was able to tell her which prison it was. This friend contacted the prison and learned that she would not be able to visit T unless her name was listed on T's visitation list. My friend was instructed to purchase a blank white postcard at the post office, write a note to T, and ask to be placed on the visitation list. Then, she was given T's personal address in prison. What an opportunity! Well, I marched right into the post office, bought about 50 of those postcards, and gave them out to some of the most godly women I know who are a part of my family of faith. Since that day, women have been showering T with postcards of love, encouragement, and glimpses of the gospel. What a beautiful picture of the body of Christ at work.
Now, I wish I could tell you that my faith in unshakable, but the truth is that I have been so tempted, recently, to give up on this woman, which I'm realizing is extremely sinful - not because God will save her, but because God can save her. Even though I may not be saying these words out loud, my heart is tempted to believe that this woman is maybe just a little too far gone for God, but he's reminding me that He can save whomever He wants, whenever He wants, however He wants, and it's not my business to know His plans. It is my job to faithfully present the gospel, and believe that He is able, even if He doesn't. Colossians 2:13 tells us that we were all at one time dead in our sin. It's not like some of us were treading water, no we were all 100% dead. I need to fight the temptation to think that I or anyone else had anything to do with my salvation. It is just as miraculous that God would breathe life into my heart as it would be for God to breathe life into T's heart. Both of us had the same problem, and neither of us could do anything about it.
"But God,
being rich in mercy, because
of the great love with which he loved us, even when we
were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been
saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the
heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the
coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches
of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace
you have been saved through faith. And this is not
your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that
no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for
good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we
should walk in them."
Ephesians 2:4-10
Yesterday, my friend received a postcard from T. Typed below are the words that we've been crying over for the past 2 days! Before you read, please note that when she refers to her children she'll never see again, that is her assessment of the situation. As far as I know, that is far from true.
Hello Mrs. _____________,
I want to first and foremost say thank you for sendin your love and prayers my way. When i received the postcard i cried because I dont get mail can you please ask ms. E to send me pictures of my children I will never see again let her know i said thanks 4 caring for my boys & i love her. You were placed on my list the min you asked. Monday visitation is... Please send pictures please Thanks 4 prayin 4 me let Ms. E knw I am really tryin & Thanks!! keep me in your prayers and i'll see you soon. Ty
Praise God! I do think she will be incarcerated for a while. I'm thankful for His Sovereignty over that, and I am praying that through this dark period, He will use many of us to reveal His gospel to T.
- Pray for her - that the Lord would save her and radically change her life, and that He would continue to use our church in the process.
- Pray for my friend, who hopes to visit with her on Monday.
- Pray for one other woman, who also asked to be added to her visitation list.
- Pray that each of us would be wise in our interations with her - that He would shield us from naivety but that we would exude His love and grace.
No comments:
Post a Comment