This week in devotion time at the girl’s jail, the subject was on purity. With about 25 of us sitting in a circle reading from our bibles listening to what the Lord has placed on the hearts of Nelly & Candy.
Candy talked about some of the verses in the bible that talked about purity. She talked about Avoiding Sexual Sin. That we are all made in the image of God. Then she asked for volunteers to read Psalms 139.
I liked how some of the girls wanted to volunteer to read, and they had lots of questions. What I didn’t like was that some of the girls that didn’t join us for devotions was trying to interfere by making loud rude noises off to the side. However, this did not stop the devotion time.
After Candy spoke, Nelly talked about the first time she met her future husband. She talked about the respect he had for her when they were dating. The girl’s eyes went wide when Nelly told them he waited 8 months to kiss her. This made the girls giggle. With the laughing going on I saw that the girls who were loud started to be quite and move closer to our group. She showed the girls her wedding ring, and told them that the blood vein that runs through that finger goes straight to the heart. When her husband placed the ring on her finger it was symbol of love that is meant to be forever. Forever her heart will be his.
Nelly then opened a bag and brought out the most beautiful wedding dress I have ever seen. It was her wedding dress that she wore 21 years ago. She held it up and asked who wanted to try it on.
What I saw next was truly amazing. With each girl who tried it on I saw an instinct change in their appearance and attitude. They felt like royalty when holding the edge of the dress and twirling around in circle. For a little while I saw girls that were dreaming of their future.
One girl that tried on the dress held her hands over her face when she had it on and said no Momi Nelly this is too beautiful. Nelly said “yes it is beautiful but so are you”. One day you will meet your future husband, a man that God has for you.
Today it had to take a wedding dress to show the girls beauty but in time they will understand that God speaks to the heart of someone whose sins have been forgiven and whose heart has been made new, whose purity comes, not from themselves, but from the presence of Jesus in their lives.