At about 7:00 a.m. I had drifted off to sleep when the phone rang. I felt sure it was either Stephanie or my parents calling to let us know everything was fine and under control. Instead it was Stephanie screaming and crying into the phone. I will never forget the sound of her voice and what she said for the rest of my life. “Jackie, the man died, Jason has been arrested, taken to jail and charged with Murder. They may arrest my daddy also!”

All that I could say was, “Oh Lord!


Friday was the Fourth of July and we always have a barbeque on the holiday. Larry went ahead and barbequed and the family came as always. Later that night after everyone was gone, Jim, my oldest son called me and said: “Mama, I know that the police confiscated Jason’s cell phone, but I just called it and left him a message. I told him that today we had all of his favorite dishes, but because I knew what he was eating in jail I was not able to eat one bite. “Afterward, I went and cried again!
I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim: I water my couch with my tears (Psalm 6:6)
At 1:00 p.m. Larry, Stephanie and I were allowed – not individually, but together – to see Jason for a total of fifteen minutes. The jail was divided into Pods, with Pod A representing the worst of the worst. I refer to it as Cell Block A. That is where they had placed my son. They finally called us back to visit. I was trembling inside and what I saw was burned into my mind for the rest of my life.
 The verdict was delivered to the judge! Larry was squeezing my hand tightly and I felt as though I was about to hyperventilate. For the rest of my life, I will never forget the way Jason looked, standing there between his two attorneys, with the remainder of his life dangling out over a cliff! Oh how I wish I could have swapped places with him! I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel (Psalm 31:12)
Back in the courtroom, Judge Strickland had just ruled during the Preliminary Hearing that the “Felony Murder” charge would stand. Jason was officially charged with Felony Murder and he would not be going home with us today. When I got up to walk out of the courtroom I was in a trance. I could have walked into a brick wall without seeing it. Stephanie fainted in the hall and I never noticed.

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Media Contact: For a review copy or to arrange an interview with Jackie Carpenter, contact Book Publicist Scott Lorenz, President of Westwind Communications Book Marketing, 734-667-2090, scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or http://westwindcos.com/book
My sting from Satan came on June 28, 2008 by way of one of those dreadful wake-up calls from my dad at 2:00 a.m. telling me that while Jason was guarding his houses the copper thieves returned, there was a struggle, the gun misfired, and one of the alleged culprits had been shot. Billy, Jason’s father-in-law, had gone to the site, and in order to get medical attention to the wounded guy, Billy had rushed him to the hospital in his own truck instead of waiting on the ambulance

My second sting from Satan came five hours later when the phone rang again. As I picked it up I was quite sure it was my dad calling to let us know everything was fine, but it was not my dad and that was not the case. It was my daughter-in-law Stephanie (Jason’s wife) screaming and crying into the telephone. She was telling me that the man who was wounded had died and my son Jason had been arrested, taken to jail, and falsely accused of felony murder, and her dad may also be arrested.


I was not praying for strength to get me through the tragedy. I was praying for strength to help me crawl from the bed into my prayer closet. If I could just make it that far then I knew I would be safe from Satan’s tormenting thoughts because my prayer closet was my refuge from Satan. It was the one and only area of my life where Satan could not get to me. I had to fight him every step of the way because he did not want me to get there. He did not want me to get too close to God.


When Cynthia prayed with me Satan fled. She also attended a ladies prayer meeting one day a week and that is where Cynthia would fire up the prayer chain. She called the 700 Club throughout the process and the 700 Club had prayer partners that would pray also. The prayer chain reached from Georgia to New York. Thousands of people were praying for my son. There is so much power in prayer.
Have you ever given any thought as to how much we depend on God to get us through each and every day? Wouldn’t we be in trouble if God hung a sign down from heaven that said, “NO LIFEGUARD ON DUTY...LIVE LIFE AT YOUR OWN RISK”! How scary would that be, to go through a storm of life, with no hope of being rescued?

On the night of June 28, 2008 I knew Jason was guarding his houses and I prayed for my son. I had total peace that Jesus was there with him, for Jesus was his “Lifeguard.” Yet Satan was telling me there was “No Lifeguard on Duty.” He was attempting to twist my mind into thinking Jesus had deserted my son that fatal night.


God already knew what the verdict in Jason’s trial would be. I can’t help but wonder if Satan knew at that point in time as well. I started to think that maybe Satan did already know what the verdict would be and he also knew that if he didn’t destroy me first, come April 13, 2009 he would lose any power he had to destroy my life and that was why he was stalking my every move.


What good is a depressed Christian for the army of the Lord? Depressed Christians do not even want to get out of the bed and face the day, let alone be an encouragement to the lost without Christ. It is not God’s plan for His people to suffer affliction from Satan. It is our choice.
We have to stand strong in the victory that is already ours through Jesus Christ and walk in that power. We are in the army of the Lord and He has already defeated the enemy for us. Snares are on every side and we are on the frontlines of battle (spiritual warfare) every day that we live but we are here to occupy the land until He returns.
Media Contact: For a review copy or to arrange an interview with Jackie Carpenter, contact Book Publicist Scott Lorenz, President of Westwind Communications Book Marketing, 734-667-2090, scottlorenz@westwindcos.com or http://westwindcos.com/book