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By Vetra K. Bilsland |
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My
husband, Richard, and I met at |
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I’ll never
forget the call from our attorney’s office telling me that our baby boy had been
born early Monday morning, November 17. We went to the hospital when Steve
was 3 days old and picked up this darling blue bundle to take home. No baby
was ever more welcome. Steve was the center of our universe. Richard and I
knew that he was divinely directed to our family, and we had a profound sense
of responsibility toward the Lord for this precious life. Our family
continued to grow. We adopted another baby boy, Michael, and then had the
wonderful surprise of giving birth to our daughter, Julie. |
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In 1987,
with a decline in the farming economy, we moved to |
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Steve had
accepted Jesus as his Savior as a child when he was in a Good News Club with
his Grandma Bilsland. At an A/G youth camp in Iowa when he was about 12, he
sensed God calling him into the ministry and continued to feel this strong
pull throughout his teenage years. In 1990, following high school graduation,
we took Steve to a Bible college. We felt so good leaving him there, remembering
our experiences at |
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The first
semester went by fast, and our communications with Steve were full of the
usual college fun. However, it became apparent that Steve wasn’t applying
himself to his studies. He failed most of his classes. Disappointed, we told
him he had to return home. I went to the school and helped him pack. As
disappointed as Richard and I were, we didn’t fully realize how this failure
impacted Steve. |
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Shortly after
coming home, Steve moved into an apartment with some guys. He had a new
girlfriend and new friends whom we did not know at all. He would come by the
house from time to time to "borrow" some money and get some clothes
or food. By late 1991, Steve looked gaunt and unkempt. On Labor Day weekend,
I asked him if he and his girlfriend would come over for a family picnic. He
came alone. When he arrived, his clothes were so dirty I told him to get in
the shower and then took his clothes to wash and dry while he was getting
cleaned up. He said that he couldn’t stay for dinner and asked his dad for
some money. I filled some bags with groceries and he left. |
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At
approximately |
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Steve told
us that he got together with his girlfriend and another male friend after
leaving our house. They pooled their money and proceeded to get drunk.
Somewhere in the fogginess of alcohol, it was decided it was a good idea to
rob a nearby sandwich shop. Steve had a broken BB gun that looked like a revolver.
He went into the shop and demanded the money while the friend waited in the
car. When they tried to drive away, the car hit a curb and an axle broke. The
friend fled. Steve knew he was in way over his head. He sat on the curb and
waited for the police. |
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Steve
remained jailed while his trial date approached. We hoped for the best. His
court-appointed lawyer and the district attorney had agreed that, as a
first-time offender, Steve could be paroled and released with time served if
the sandwich shop owner would sign an agreement. But the night before Steve’s
court appearance the shop was robbed again. The owner now refused to sign
anything. The judge proclaimed Steve guilty of all charges and sentenced him
to the mandatory five years of prison without any chance of parole or
probation. Steve was led out of the courtroom. It was over so fast. It was so
cold and final. I got to my car, tears flowing. |
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I really
can’t remember the drive home, but the phone was ringing when I came into the
house. I rushed to answer it. It was Steve. He was allowed one call before
being taken to the prison induction center. He was crying. He was so scared.
He didn’t know what was ahead of him. I realized I needed to be strong for
him, even though I was a total basket case myself. I prayed for the right
words to say to him. I told Steve that his life did not belong to him, to me
or to the State of |
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About
three weeks later, we finally received Steve’s call and rushed to see him
that Saturday. It was a sobering experience. The prison induction center also
served as a holding area for capital punishment inmates. The building that
housed the electric chair was in view of the building where we visited Steve.
When we first saw Steve, he looked scared and childlike. He told us about the
evaluation process he had been going through and that he might be sent to
Alto Prison, one of the worst prisons in |
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Even as I
prayed that God would spare Steve from going to Alto, I continued to pray
that He would do the best for my son. I trusted God to keep Steve safe. We,
as his parents, could no longer ensure his safety. But we knew that God loved
Steve even more than we did; his life was totally in God’s hands. |
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We finally
got the call at the end of Steve’s evaluation period. He had been assigned to
a prison farm in |
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We hadn’t
seen Steve for several weeks. Walking through the door with the guard, he
looked like a prisoner of war. He had lost considerable weight. He was
already skinny, and now he looked anorexic with huge bags under his eyes. He
explained how scared he had been that he was going to go to Alto Prison and
couldn’t eat or sleep worrying about it. He was so happy to see us, and we
were so happy to see him. It was truly a blessing from the Lord. |
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The years passed.
We trekked off as a family either on Saturday or Sunday and every holiday
visiting period. We became a very familiar group on these visiting days.
Julie would come home from college for summer or the holidays and off we
would go to see Steve. When family came to visit from out of town we would
take them to visit. Five Christmases, five Thanksgivings, five birthdays,
five Mother’s and Father’s Days – all came and went with Steve separated from
us. |
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One
Saturday, quite early in the five-year sentence, I arrived for the usual
Saturday visit. Steve had become very active with the prison ministry and the
chaplain. He told me that his Aunt Marlene, from |
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I was also
gaining a deeper trust and walk with the Lord. Steve and I became very close
as mother and son and became spiritual partners as well. As Steve’s sentence
dragged on and our every attempt to have it shortened was thwarted, I began
to trust that God knew what was best for my son. It was one of the hardest
decisions I have ever had to make as a parent. No matter what happened from
that time forward, I would not question or complain. There was going to be
total trust that the best would be done for Steve. |
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During
those five years we watched Steve grow into a strong, mature Christian man.
We saw the respect and honor that was given to him by his fellow inmates and
even the guards. During the last two years of his sentence he became the No.
1 trustee, and ran the prison store. This was the top honor for an inmate. He
and other inmates became certified, licensed firemen, and Steve won honors
for performance in fire fighting in |
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I can
never forget the Labor Day weekend when we thought we had lost Steve. It was
another Labor Day weekend when we were notified that Steve would be released
from prison on that Sunday morning. We left the house about |
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Yes, Steve
had to serve five years in prison. Yes, we suffered as a family. But I want
to tell the whole world that God had His hand entirely with Steve. The miracle
for Steve wasn’t that he got to leave prison earlier than he was sentenced.
The miracle was that God took a terribly scarred life and made a godly man
out of my son. God took a kid who had no direction and made him totally sure
of himself and his mission to serve the Lord. |
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This is
not the end of the story. This is only the beginning. |
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Editor’s
note: Steve Bilsland enrolled at |
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