Someone's daughter is behind bars
lonely
frustrated
sick
scared
worried
trapped
never loved
beaten
discarded
escaping reality
survival
sinner
saint
still alive?.........guilty.
I wrote this poem this week as I was pondering all the things I have learned about the wonderful women that I serve behind bars. I have grown over these three years to appreciate their struggles a bit more, to find a deeper place of compassion in my heart for them, remembering a phrase my mom used to tell us, but for the grace of God go I....
What gets one behind bars, is it bad luck, being born on the other side of town or is there a piece of God's mercy in it? Does it give one a second chance to walk differently? Is there any hope for change? Or will life always be the same and it will be one crime after another?
I would like to believe that God is in control and that hope can be seen even in a place like this! I have seen it in some of the women I have walked with. They go from living a lie to accepting truth and then reaching out to something better. I have seen them come to a new understanding of who God is and His wonderful plan for their lives.
This is not always true as I have also seen some fall way and turn back to their old ways rejecting the love that seems so foreign to them. But,our team keeps reaching out having faith that the God who met them behind bars will never desert them and will one day bring them into the glory of His home. A place where there is no hatred, rejection and wounding instead only acceptance and love.
One of the women has returned to her home country to complete her sentence in prison there. She still writes and keeps up with us on how things are going. We have heard from her that she is not allowed to have any personal books, including her Bible.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if several of you wrote her and filled your letter with words of encouragement and scripture? If you would like her mailing address please send me an email at nesbittb@gmail.com
