VL - Issue 42 - January 2022

negative emotions and turned the weapons
of destruction upon myself. As far as
I could figure, I was the common denominator
in every horrible thing that had happened
in my life, so I must be the problem.
I used every drug I could get my hands on.
Life was too painful without them.
At 20, I found myself in a dysfunctional
relationship with a man I didn’t really
know. His name was Bill, and he had just
been released from prison. We got married
and had two kids before I realized Bill was
an IV drug user. Soon I became one too. We
were both so lost. All that mattered was
get ting high. Together, we fueled our addictions,
hurting each other and our children.
We ended up living in a tent on the streets.
After eight and a half years together and a
failed attempt to get sober, our marriage
ended in divorce.
I abandoned my children, just as so
many had left me, and my guilt over that
piled on more of the self-hatred, shame,
and regret I already carried.
By the time I was 29, I had been arrested
13 times. I lived alone on the streets for
two years, scouring through garbage cans
for food and selling my body for drugs. I
was a miserable being, a bag lady, focused
solely on survival.
I couldn’t see how sick I had become.
When you’re out there, you don’t see yourself
with eyes of truth. In fact, you don’t see
yourself at all. I had completely stopped
looking in the mirror.
One time, a man aimed his gun at me,
and in my pitiful state, I told him to shoot
me and put me out of my misery. I had no
reason to live. I had tried to commit suicide
several times and felt more like a failure
when I couldn’t even succeed at that! Of
course, now I know it was God miraculously
sparing my life.
One morning while I was unlawfully on
an army base, I was arrested by military
police and the city police sergeant. I didn’t
know it yet, but God was bringing me to a
critical crossroads. I would soon see His
plan for my life unfold in tangible ways.
Because of my lengthy criminal record,
I was sent to a crowded southern California
women’s prison. There was very little
As a youth, Sharon (above) desired love and
acceptance. She found both in the arms of God.
privacy there, but God arranged for my
cellmate to work in the kitchen. That meant
I had time alone.
In my cell, I read a book about a man
named George H. Meyer. In the 1940s, he
was the chauffeur and getaway driver for
the alleged mafia boss, “Scarface” Al Capone.
Meyer’s life of crime eventually put
him behind bars. But it was there in his
dark prison cell that George Meyer surrendered
his life to Jesus Christ.
I was intrigued by the life-transforming
power of Jesus in Meyer’s life. God had
used this man while he was incarcerated
to impact many people. And now, decades
later, he was affecting my life too.
Up to that point, I had felt useless. As far
as I could see, my life was a complete waste.
I was 29 years old with nothing but misery
to show for it. I had broken everything I’d
touched. But Meyer’s testimony penetrated
my heart, and something unfamiliar began
stirring inside, something impossible to
resist. It was hope!
Through Meyer’s book, I began to wonder
about Jesus Christ. If living a life surrendered
to Christ had helped George H.
Meyer, could it help me too?
I didn’t wait for reason to surface—I got
down on my knees and cried out to God for
salvation. Suddenly I had remorse over my
sin. I wept over what I had done to people
and for my self-hatred. I asked God for forgiveness
and repented for rejecting Him.
I had forfeited so many opportunities to
know Him through the years.
As I prayed, I felt God’s grace wash over
me. When I got up off the floor, I was a
brand-new person (2 Corinthians 5:17).
A few weeks later, I was placed in the
general population. There, I was able to
attend church within the prison. The chaplain
gave me a Bible he had purchased just
for me. I read it for hours every day.
God’s Word ministered hope to my heart.
Through it, I learned He had a purpose for
creating me and that I had value (Ephesians
2:10). I learned that I mattered to God
(Psalm 139), and He loved me so much so
that He had sent His Son, Jesus, to die for
me (John 3:16). Me!
I was in awe that the Creator of the universe
knew me by my name (Isaiah 43:1). I
had always felt so invisible. He also promised
never to fail or abandon me (Deuteronomy
31:6,8; Joshua 1:5–9). Everyone else
in my life had let me down.
God’s Word, His truth, was like a stream
of cool water in the desert. It quenched
the thirst of my soul like nothing else
could (John 4), and it set me free from the
bondage of guilt, shame, and self-hatred
(John 8:32).
This newfound freedom brought the
love, peace, joy, security, and stability I
had always longed for. As I grew in that
security, God began to put His love for others
in my heart. I knew that He wanted me
to share His love and hope with others in
prison, just like George Meyer had done. I
stepped out in trust, leading music at the
prison church service.
Not long after, I was transferred to a
minimum-security prison. I was on fire
for Jesus and excited about growing in my
faith in this new place. And then I discovered
that, out of the 90 women there, only
one other inmate was a Christian. And she
was being released in two weeks!
I felt so alone and betrayed by God. In
my confusion, I cried out to Him and asked,
“Why would You send me to such a spiritually
empty place, Lord? I need training.
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