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 Our church has been fortunate to have Bill and MaryBeth Cobble work with our children on two different occasions. MaryBeth is extremely gifted in children’s ministry and has served churches across this country and around the world. Just a few weeks ago, she led a children’s VBS in Switzerland. Last summer she and Bill were in the Amazon jungle working with kids.
One would like to assume that when a person devotes their life to sharing the Gospel with children, that their children would respond in a similar fashion. That is not always the case. You see, God loves us so much, that He will never force us to respond to Him. As parents, we want certatin things for our kids, but it will ultimately be their choice in responding. MaryBeth’s son, Kevin (pictured above) was recently sent to jail for two years on drug related charges. Drugs have been an anchor around Kevin’s neck that he has struggled for some time. He, like many of us, knows the good he needs to do, but doesn’t do it. It is a struggle that has landed him in jail. The other day, he sent his mother an email containing this paragraph: Something sad happened today. A female officer came in laundry and asked all of us, "Who has a strong stomach?" Nobody volunteered, and she looked stressed, so I stepped forward. She had a plastic bag full of clothes drenched in pee, rain, mud, blood, and other unknowns. She said the clothes belonged to a homeless woman who had just been arrested. The woman was so desperate to find shelter and food that she got drunk and acted-out in public, then assaulted an officer to guarantee a few weeks' stay in jail. The officer told me it happens often. I felt so horrible for this homeless lady! All I could do was pray for her and make sure her clothes were clean, so I washed her clothes 3 times (they were nasty) and folded them like a Marine. At first, all of the rest of the guys were putting the lady down for having such nasty clothes, but I sharply reminded them of our former helpless-to-drugs-lifestyles and told them she's someone's sister, mother, daughter, friend. The looks on their faces were priceless. I was promoted to crew chief today, supervising 5 other guys."
Kevin has a long road to travel to beat drug addiction. But I believe there is hope. There is hope in the One who teaches us to take care of the least of these. There is hope when one of His begins to model what it looks like to live like Jesus…even in prison.
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