Apr 13, 2007

The first time I met this kid he asked if I could marry people as he is walking to class. Obviously he had something on his mind. As his story unfolds, he has a "lady", a girlfriend, on the outs, but he wants her to be his fiancee. Many times these kids in the facility want to get the women they feel connected to on the outs to settle down, the problem being they are usually 15 or 16 years of age. His "want to be" fiancee is the daughter of a prominent minister in town, she has his baby who is now 25 months old. This youth is heavy into gangs and has the "X's" on his knuckles to prove it. But the flip side is his compassion and care for his family, he loves them so much and is deeply saddened when a visit doesn't work out for his mom to see him, after all he is 16 years old. He talks about his sister who is handicapped, her arms and hands forever in the "position" of a crab. His sister drinks her food through a straw and is now at a mental capacity of a 9 year old, but can not speak. He says, "I pray everyday that God would allow me to take the place of my sister, I wonder if she is mad at me because I can walk, talk, and eat and I'm in jail." This kid is searching desperately for happiness in life and could go the route of his fiancee and their child or, if things "fall out" with that, the way of his gang which is the only life he knows. Pray with me for this young family as they are apart right now and for this young man who says he truly wants to follow God's direction.