Remembering Karla

This coming February will mark the 8th year since Karla Faye Tucker Brown was put to death in Texas by lethal injection. Looking at the face above its hard to imagine that this smiling, attractive woman brutally killed two human beings with a pick-axe. Her story isn't that uncommon as murderers go. She was neglected as a child. She turned to drugs. She killed, she was caught, she received a fair trial, and ultimately she was put to death. Justice was served. But ofcourse none of this is the dramatic part of Karla's story.

A theologian could write a thousand pages about the power of the gospel and how Jesus changes lives, but no amount of words could be as eloquent and moving as 15 minutes with this simple woman from Texas.

If you saw any of her interviews from death row... heard her talk about her conversion and her ministry to her fellow inmates... heard her talk about her faith... then you remember her. You remember how you were drawn to her... you remember how she made you feel.

Its hard to deal with the fact that we put to death a woman who had changed so dramatically and who so obviously loved the Lord. Its hard to imagine what earthly good could come from silencing such a voice.

Silenced she was, but not before she gave witness to a miracle... not before she influenced countless lives and touched countless hearts. These were her last words on this earth:

"I am going to be face to face with Jesus now. . . . I love you all very much. I will see you all when you get there. . . . I will wait for you."

Karla Faye Tucker Brown, February 3, 1998