I first met Emily two years ago, at the start of her sentence for drug trafficking and assault. Nineteen years old and thin, she hardly looked capable of the crimes for which she had been sentenced. Her demeanor, too hardened for her years, masked the vulnerability of a little girl.
Emily grew up in a drug-addicted family. She remembers her parents and siblings sitting around and getting high together, as though it were a normal activity. For them, it was. Emily began to sell drugs to support her habit, and by age 18, she was a significant player in her city’s drug trade.
For Emily, going to prison was like being plunged into a different country. Being her own boss was normal; submitting to others’ authority was foreign. Getting high was normal; sobriety was foreign.
One thing in Emily’s terrifying new environment offered her a glimmer of familiarity. Her grandmother had taken her to church when she was a little girl, so Emily gravitated toward a program, based on the life and teachings of Jesus, that is run by Prison Fellowship. On the recommendation of her caseworker, she applied and was accepted two years ago.
Emily is a different person now. She is spiritually reborn. She is on a journey of recovery from her dysfunctional childhood. Her eyes are bright with deep-down joy, the old hardness gone for good.
Though she has two years left of her sentence, she sees them as a gift. She wants to finish her GED. She wants to mentor other women. And when she gets out, she wants to go to college and become a social worker, so she can intervene in the lives of girls who are headed down the same, one-way street. Our wonderful Creator has made “all things new” (Rev. 21:5) in her life.