After I finished the book Devils Driver, I realized that God was exactly what I needed in my life. I got on my knees and cried out to God for over an hour. I wept for all the things I had done to people, and all of the ways that I had rejected God and hated myself. I cried for all the things I had missed in life – all the lost opportunities. When I got up off the floor, I was literally a bran new person.                                       

       When I was placed in General Population a few weeks later, I went to church immediately. The Chaplain befriended me, and bought me a very expensive Bible with his own money. I read it for HOURS every day. I couldn’t get enough of it! It was TRUTH and I knew it. I had lived believing so many lies in my life, the Truth was like a stream of cool water in the desert for me.                                                                                 

       The Scriptures spoke wholeness and hope to my heart. They gave my life meaning and purpose and stability. I began experiencing peace and joy such as I had never known. And I began wanting something that was very foreign to me – I wanted to help others in prison. I became a song leader and began supporting others who were as broken as I had been. Prison would become one of the best experiences of my life.                          

       I was later transferred to a minimum-security prison. However, out of the 90 women there, I was all alone in my faith. I cried out to God and asked “WHY would You send me to this spiritually empty place? I need training. I need friends to help me now more than ever! He showed me that I was the one who would bring hope to these women. I started teaching the Scriptures there, and I learned later that these studies continued years after I left.                                                                 

       When I was released, I had to go back to Santa Cruz, California, where I was from. But the only people I knew there were drug addicts and prostitutes! Again, I cried out to God – “How could you let me come back to the town where all I know are drugs and the street life. How will I overcome the reputation I have made there?” He showed me that I was to be a witness to those I had run with. God brought me many people and opportunities to share His love, light and Gospel with.                            

       The next best part of my life, after accepting Jesus, was when I met my current husband, Michael. He was raised in a family of California Highway Patrolmen!! COPS!! His family was shocked that he would bring “someone like me” home, but over the years, God changed their hearts about “those kinds of people”. God surely has a sense of humor! We have now been married for many years and we love to help others come to faith.  I went back to school and earned my Registered Nursing degree. I also started teaching Bible studies for women. God brought me a very unusual group of women to teach. There were those who had been Christians all of their lives, and there were also women who had just come off the street. Some came from addictive backgrounds, and many were single moms. I couldn’t find any material that this diverse group could all relate to, so I started writing my own studies. The book I wrote, called Be Transformed: By the Spirit of the Living God, was birthed from this class, because my life had been forever transformed.