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God's Light at the End of the Tunnel
By Marilyn Braley

There is light at the end of the tunnel even if it takes 14 years to reach it.

t's been half my life, Mom," my son David told me, "that I've been under the court system." Since he is 30, he is just about right.

In 1991, 15 years ago when he was 16, neither of us knew if there ever would be light for him in this life or if he would even survive that long. God knew despite our uncertainty and determined that indeed David would survive, triumph and become an inspiration to many.

He didn't start out being triumphant or inspiring, and it seemed that the backseat of police cars and juvenile detention centers were his favorite hangout spots. He thumbed his nose at the law and wondered why law officials were out to get him. After all, the other kids got away with it. What he didn't realize was that he wasn't just any other kid. The difference was that David had been raised in the Church. He knew better than the other kids, and God was holding him accountable.

He needed some masculine "tough love," and that is just what God gave him. A few months in a military-style boot camp, with no contact with either friends or family, resulted in a changed man. In 1994 at age 19, he was given parole and quickly found a job.

He seemed to be settling into society; but, as he told me later, he still didn't have his head on straight. There were a few loose screws that needed to be tightened up. He broke parole and thought that since he was no longer committing crimes everything would be OK.

He seemed to be settling into society; but, as he told me later, he still didn't have his head on straight.
Unfortunately that was not the case and he ended up in prison in 1995 at age 20. He could have become bitter, thinking that carelessness was not a valid reason for imprisonment but he chose not to. Instead he was protective of me and reassured me that being in prison would teach him never to go back to the way he used to be. He appreciated my support and told me that inmates who get letters and visits do better. He quoted a statistic that said only 15 percent of former inmates do not go back to prison. He boldly declared that he would be one of those. He determined to hold on to his humanity and trusted God to protect him versus spending his family's hard-earned money to pay for protection from varying prison assaults. God honored his faith and determination by seeing him through.

God showed us a glimpse of the millennium when 24-year-old David walked through the prison walls and into my arms -- interestingly, right before the 1999 Feast of Tabernacles, which pictures this. It was thrilling to experience his first few days in the free world with him. Adjusting to society was not easy, especially with strict court supervision. But this time he was ready for it and understood that "rules are not made to be broken." He impressed his parole officers and employers, with both his determination and his charm. He put himself through diving school, and his employers as well as parole officers worked with him in order to ensure both success and productivity on the job along with compliance of court-required monthly parole visits.

At just the right time, when the 2005 Days of Unleavened Bread were approaching, thanks to God's intervention, his persistence was rewarded. He was no longer under parole or court supervision and reached God's light at the end of the tunnel. He now walks free, as long as he obeys the law and does not go back to his former life. David's life is a good example of coming out of sin -- a lesson of the Days of Unleavened Bread. He has now put on the new (law-abiding, productive) man in place of the old (criminal) man, thanks to God's help -- a lesson of Pentecost.

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Copyright 2006 by United Church of God, an International Association All rights reserved.


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Keywords: teen delinquency prison sin, coming out of 

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