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MONA'S MIRACLE: A MOTHER'S JOURNEY TO RECOVERY AND NEW LIFE
A life full of questions. One answer she’d been seeking all along.
Mona needed answers. She searched up and down the aisles of the prison library, combing the shelves with the help of her friend LoRay, a fellow prisoner. In matching khaki uniforms, the women scoured the shelves one by one, rummaging and rearranging, driven by their shared sense of urgency. But still, nothing.
Ready to give up, Mona turned to a shelf she was sure she’d already checked. On one pile of books lay the Inside Journal Life Recovery Bible she was seeking. It felt like an old friend had appeared out of nowhere.
Mona looked at LoRay, eyes wide.
“That’s God, baby,” said LoRay. “I need you to do this for me. I need you to really get into this and start reading your Bible and start praying, and you’ll get your answers.”
OUT OF CONTROL
Over the years, Mona had turned to drugs and alcohol for answers, like she’d seen her own mother do. For Mona, substance abuse numbed the pain of childhood trauma. While her dad tried to keep her on the straight and narrow, she spent much of her teen years fighting, drinking, and getting high.
Mona was 15 when she had her first baby. Her dad stepped in to take care of her son as she cycled in and out of juvenile detention centers. Later, as an adult, she spent time behind bars for DUIs and assault.
In 2001, Mona began using meth. Her criminal behavior worsened. She had had many children, but she struggled to be a mother, committing crimes like forgery to pay for her drug habit. She would go to prison four times.
Leading up to her last prison stint, Mona sat in a Nebraska courtroom. Those four walls felt all too familiar as she sat listening to the judge rattle off her charges one by one. It wasn’t the first time she had heard them. But this time, a surprising feeling washed over her.
“All I kept thinking was, ‘Oh my gosh, this is just what’s on that paper. He really has no clue [about] the things that I've done,’” Mona says, looking back. “In my heart, that was the first time I ever felt that I was not a good person and that something had to give. I felt really empty inside, and I couldn’t explain what was going on with me. It just hit me way differently.”
A SAFE PLACE
At Nebraska Correctional Center for Women, Mona found her longtime friend LoRay and began to confess her shame through tears. Over and over, Mona asked, “Why?” Why couldn’t she get it together? Why couldn’t she be the mom her kids needed?
LoRay pointed her to a Bible. At first, Mona was hesitant—she wanted more than a reading assignment—but LoRay insisted.
Mona said the only Bible that might help was the Inside Journal Life Recovery Bible, a large-print, easy-to-read version of God’s Word. She had found it during a previous prison term but left it behind. Its study notes had helped her glean meaning from Scripture; reading sometimes posed a challenge for Mona, since her early trouble with the law had limited her formal schooling.
But now, Mona was desperate to change. The women searched the prison library with haste. Finding the Bible bolstered Mona’s faith, and she began to pour over God’s Word like never before. Verses about God’s faithfulness and grace spoke to her soul.
A few weeks later, Mona heard about the Prison Fellowship Academy®, a life transformation program for incarcerated men and women. Created by the same organization that helped provide the Inside Journal Life Recovery Bible, the Academy offers participants the tools and environment they need to change: holistic curriculum, biblical values, and trained, compassionate coaches in a supportive community. Mona didn’t know how she would fit in, but she applied.
In the Academy, Mona discovered a diverse community of women committed to change—something Mona had thought was out of reach for so long.
“That was scary to me, because I’ve been the way I am my whole life,” Mona says. “So just thinking about changing, that was scary.”
Each module of the curriculum challenged her to grow, and the section on victim impact moved her deeply. She realized how her addiction and crimes touched many other lives, including her children’s. From then on, she resolved to speak and act with intention, practicing values like integrity and responsibility.
The supportive Academy community was unlike anything Mona had experienced in prison before. Caring Prison Fellowship® staff and volunteers helped Mona feel safe to open up. She was inspired by the wisdom and faith of Danielle Wilson, an Academy volunteer who also serves as Prison Fellowship’s church mobilization manager.
“I completely trusted her,” says Mona.
“When good things happen in my life, He’s the one I think [of]. It has nothing to do with me; it’s all God.”
–Mona
MONA'S MIRACLE
Mona made great strides in the Academy, but it was a difficult climb. Digging into her past and getting to the root of her struggles was painful. Partway through the program, “things got too real,” she says. Then she told Danielle she was ready to quit.
Mona was called into the warden’s office, where Danielle and the warden sat down with Mona to hear her concerns—and to encourage her to stay in the program.
“They told me that I was an asset,” says Mona. “I’ve never been told that before, that I was an asset to the community. It made me feel like I was on the right path … and they believed in me.”
Mona chose to remain in the Academy. Over time, she became a mentor to other women. When somebody needed a trusted friend or listening ear, they called Mona. She gained a reputation as a peacekeeper in the prison.
Mona had been estranged from her 12 children for the first several years of her incarceration. Only her dad would answer letters and phone calls. But as Mona’s transformation became evident, her children began opening up to her.
On graduation day, she burst with pride at the claps and cheers of the audience. Completing the Academy almost felt like a dream.
“I truly believe that God performed a miracle on me,” says Mona. “He turned me into the woman I am intended to be. When good things happen in my life, He’s the one I think [of]. It has nothing to do with me; it’s all God.”
MENDING BROKEN PIECES
In February 2022, Mona was released, and her son’s landlord rented her an apartment.
At times, she struggled to adjust to the new rhythms of life outside. The freedom of her new environment intimidated her. She leaned on trusted friends and loved ones for support.
Mona still says the best thing about coming home is being near family. She’s not only a mother of 12; she has four grandchildren and one on the way. The little ones love to play and watch movies with her.
“I don’t want to ever do anything to jeopardize the relationship I have with my children ever again,” she says.
Today, Mona is six years sober and works full time at a local production and shipping company. While finding work hasn’t been challenging for her, she considers herself blessed. She knows that people with a criminal record often struggle to find steady employment.
Mona strives to help others through recovery, walking alongside friends who need accountability. She still believes the Inside Journal Life Recovery Bible is the greatest gift for anyone struggling with addiction. She also keeps in touch with Danielle, her Academy mentor, and they have plans for a special reunion for Academy graduates hosted by a local church. Mona can’t wait to see the others and celebrate how far they’ve journeyed.
She recently learned that her full first name, Ramona, means “wise protector.” And it suits her, a devoted mother, grandmother, and friend with a strength that only flows from a source beyond herself. Every time she walks through the door to see her grandbabies’ faces, she marvels at the miracle.
“I truly believe that God performed a miracle. He turned me into the woman I am intended to be.”
–Mona