NCA BLOG

Unlikely Heroes

Several years back, the country was for a moment riveted by the national unfolding story of an escaped killer who had taken hostage a young, single mom inside her apartment. The woman, Ashley Smith, was a self-confessed meth addict, who had relinquished her child due to her own poor choices in life. But that wasn’t Ms. Smith’s destiny. A few months before that regretful day, on which four people lost their lives to a murderer, Ms. Smith had begun a spiritual redirection in her life. She had begun reading the book “Purpose Driven Life,” by Rick Warren, and seeking spiritual change for herself. At one point in the intervening hours, her captor permitted her to read aloud portions of the b