In this episode of Unexpected Turns, host Laura Wilcox has a conversation with Tranece, whose world was turned upside down when she learned that her 18-year-old son had been arrested for murder. Because Tranece had just gotten engaged the day before she received this devastating news, she wondered if her fiancé Terrence would want to keep their engagement.
Yet Terrence assured her of his unconditional love and commitment to her. The wedding was on, yet Tranece found it difficult to walk the road of wedding planning while grieving her son's situation. As she learned to forgive her son and to forgive herself for any shortcomings as a parent, she also began to live in freedom from the shame of parenting a son in prison. In time, God redeemed the situation in many ways. Her son began to grow in his faith in Christ and to see prison as his place of ministry. And God began to show Tranece how He would use terrible circumstances to equip her for a ministry of hope to others.
Today Tranece and her husband have three daughters together in addition to her two sons. They have both studied at Dallas Theological Seminary, where Tranece has earned the Master of Arts in Christian Education and the Master of Biblical and Theological Studies; she is currently pursuing a Doctor of Education degree at DTS. Tranece is a published writer and speaker based in Dallas. Contact her for speaking engagements at TraneceHarris@dallasseminary.edu.
Read Tranece's story, "I Do" And Your Son Too, at the Sacred Story website. What stories are waiting in your women's group to be shared with others? Schedule a Sacred Story Retreat and find out!
