The Choice

The Choice - Contributed by Jane Rager

“But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15

Years ago when we lived in Maryland, I volunteered in the Chaplain’s Office at the Anne Arundel County Department of Corrections.  I lead Bible studies, mentored the women inmates, and helped the Chaplain where needed.  Although I came in contact with hundreds of women there over the years a few stand out clearly in my mind. 

One was a young woman named Fawn.  The first time saw Fawn was at a Bible study.  She was tall and attractive with dark brown hair and eyes but what caught my attention was that her right eye was black, her lower lip was split open and she had multiple visible bruises.  The sight of her broke my heart.   As was the custom, we started the class with the question, “Why are you at Bible study tonight?”  Fawn simply stated that she wanted to learn more about Jesus, which was a pretty standard answer from the women.  Fawn stayed for the whole study that night and returned the next week.  She became one our regulars.

Over time Fawn shared her story bit by bit.  Her mother was a drug addict living on the streets since before Fawn was born.  Fawn grew up on the streets with her Mom and was introduced to the drug culture at an early age. She was a long time addict.   It was a brutal and dangerous life.

Fawn wanted to escape that life and saw faith in Jesus as her way out.  We all worked with her to address her many problems.  The county provided counseling and programs to help get her back on her feet.  We provided mentoring, studies and many prayers to help her on her spiritual walk.  She was eventually released.

But before long, Fawn was incarcerated again.  The problem was that she felt obligated, as any daughter would, to check on her mom. This was the temptation that she could not resist.  The complicating factor was that when she returned to the streets to check on her mom, she would be reintroduced into the drug culture again. She would choose to stay there and the cycle would repeat itself: check on Mom, get re-hooked on drugs, live on the streets, get beat up or worse, and end up in jail. 

This happened time and time again. Finally ,a family in Pennsylvania took her in, gave her a home and a new start.  We gave thanks that God gave her this opportunity and prayed that she would continue to grow spiritually, do well in her new life, resist her demons and make good choices. We didn’t hear from her for a very long time---until she couldn’t resist the call of the streets and the obligation to check on her mom one more time. She made a fatal choice.  She went back to Maryland got drawn back into the street culture and was found murdered. 

I often think about Fawn and the women I met during my time working with the Chaplain.   So many were victims of poor choices. As Christians we make choices daily that impact our lives and the lives of those around us.  Some seem important and others seem trivial, many are life changing decisions but we rarely recognize that at the time.  The best choices are made with prayer and the wisdom given to us by the Holy Spirit. The best choices follow God’s plan for us.  The best choices lead us on the path to eternal life in Jesus.