A Story of God’s Deliverance, Redemption and Restoration
Women Who Inspire: Cherise Jones
By Cyndi Kay Green
Born at the end of the 70’s and on the heels of the 80’s, Cherise Jones has lived a life that has been full of changes and pain. She was the 2nd of six children and the oldest girl. Going through experiences as a girl, teen and woman, she strove to hang on to the hope of Jesus. When the family faced pain and trauma, life changed, causing her family to grow away from the Lord and the lifestyle she had been familiar with as a child. This is her story of God’s grace, love, redemption, and restoration.
Growing up in a small California town, Cherise’s parents attended a Pentecostal style church, where they had come to know a godly lady who invested in their family. Mrs. Cook was a neighbor and the leader of the children’s ministry at the church. The investment that Mrs. Cook would put into the family would become a huge part of Cherise’s adult life.
During her 4th grade year, the family moved to Washington. This move would mark a time in life when everything about family life and relationships changed. A change that included the family no longer attending church except for special occasions. It would also play a big part in the choices that Cherise would make as she grew into a young lady. As the family began to settle in their new life and home, Cherise began to notice so many new patterns in the way her parents behaved. Alcohol had become a prominent part of her dad’s daily life and her mom had become a closet smoker. As the alcohol became more prominent, her dad’s behavior changed. He became verbally abusive, as well as unfaithful to her mom; thereupon, leading to multiple occasions of separation. There were random people being brought into the house to live, which was very unusual for her parents. Not only was she dealing with different behavior at home, Cherise also found herself dealing with strange behavior at school. She recalled a boy at school who would randomly come up to the girls during recess, push them down, and then grab them inappropriately. Being a young child, she did not understand that this behavior was something that should have been reported. Possibly because during this time of her life, she and her siblings were becoming exposed to things that their parents would not have allowed before the many changes that had taken place in their home life.
The following year an incident happened that shook the family, causing even more changes in family life as well as relationships. Cherise had been questioned at school about her younger brother being mistreated by someone in the home, but she had dismissed it and never mentioned it to her parents. It wasn’t until her mom realized something was amiss with one of the kids that the realization of what was going on came to light. Her little brother had been molested by the boy who had been harassing the girls on the playground. As the incident unfolded law enforcement became involved; bringing about lies and accusations. As all of this dwelled in the minds of her parents, they contemplated leaving Washington.
As behavior spiraled downward, her parents separated. Her mom moved out and the kids stayed in the home. This caused her dad to be angry about the situation, and thus, he began to verbally abuse Cherise. This in turn, caused her to lose love for him. As a reflection of emotional turmoil, this loss led Cherise to seek love elsewhere. Even though her mom later returned home and reconciled with her dad, the wheels had already been set in motion in her young heart. Cherise would go down a path of seeking love and acceptance at an age where tea time play dates and slumber parties with friends should have been a priority. Trying to fit in to ease the loneliness, Cherise began smoking and hanging out with what she defined as a “cool” crowd. This crowd was not the best influence and only encouraged a rebellious behavior that led to trouble. School became less important to her as she began to find other improper interests to pass the time. Cherise became fascinated with dancing; not knowing this dream would be a part of her adult life; just not in a positive way. This behavior continued into her teen years. Rather than traditional parenting, her parents became more interested in being a friend to their kids; thus, resulting in behaviors that were once deemed unacceptable.
In her junior high years, her parents decided to move from Washington to Arizona on the premise that the weather would be better for the construction company; however, in reality, the company was suffering because of drug use. As her parents continued to try to make a life in Phoenix, it began to take a toll on her mom. Becoming severely depressed, Cherise’s mom was also becoming less involved with the lives of her kids. Given that Cherise’s dad was working 4 hours away and only home every 2 weeks, this left her mom alone to raise the kids. By the time she was in 9th grade, Cherise had decided that she did not want to continue her education and she quit school. Since there were no truancy laws there were no repercussions. Cherise began to get the attention of older men which stirred Cherise with excitement. She was feeling loved and accepted; even though she did not realize it was not appropriate. Using the hot weather as a pretext, she would dress in revealing clothes that would not have been approved of by her parents had they noticed. She would hang-out on the streets for a few hours and then hang out at the apartment of an older man. Soon, drugs and alcohol became part of her lifestyle habits. As she looks back Cherise states “You don’t realize God’s grace and mercy upon your life until you become a believer and you take a look back at your life and realize all the thing you had gone through.”
There came a day when Cherise met a sweet guy, who was not her normal choice of guys to date. She thought he was sweet, so they became involved in a relationship. It was just a matter of time before she became pregnant at the age of 17. Seeing that the family could not afford another child, and they did not want her to have a child with this guy; she was bribed into an abortion when she was 17 weeks pregnant. The initial physical and emotional pain left Cherise feeling dark and cold. However, this dismal outlook would not last long; Cherise recovered and carried on with her lifestyle. When she learned that her parents had decided to move back to Washington, Cherise elected to stay with a friend of her mom’s in Phoenix. It wasn’t long until she became pregnant again. Not wanting to have another abortion, she flew home to Washington where she moved into the downstairs area of her parents’ home. Cherise desperately wanted to have a happy little family, so without hesitation, she moved the baby’s dad to Washington. Believing this would be her chance to have a family life that she had longed for, she tried to live a good life. Soon she would give birth to her firstborn son, Reggie. In spite of that desire, it soon became a reality that the happy family she had been hoping for was not going to come to fruition. The baby’s dad was busy doing his thing so Cherise found herself alone and raising a baby. It wasn’t long after that she found herself back in the partying lifestyle. Throughout the years, Cherise would experience heartache. She was almost abducted and raped. Her lifestyle had put her in many different situations that could have ended badly. She had even begun to commit crimes such as shoplifting and check fraud.
One day, a man walked into Cherise’s life, and from then on, life would have many twists and turns as they navigated their way to Jesus. She became enthralled with this man. Though she had no idea what his life was like, she wanted to know him. Her infatuation led her to stalk him. Eventually she was able to obtain his phone number from a gym, which was a definite no-no due to privacy laws. She called him and confessed her feelings for him. The two met up the next day and the story of Cherise and Marcelle began to develop. When talking about this part of her life, Cherise confesses, “Now I know the this was totally of the Lord, that He allowed these things to happen;” referencing the way she was given his number. He left his old lifestyle and she opened her home to him. She believed that if she moved him in and took care of him, he would stay with her. This was the presumption, not the reality.
There was a night club across the street from their home, so Cherise applied and accepted a job as a waitress. During off times, she would slip into the back room and practice dancing. It was just a matter of time that she would be dancing and making a significantly higher amount of money. Seeing the serious money that she was bringing in, her boyfriend, Marcelle, decided he would follow suit and got a job in a night club in Seattle. They were both making good money, but it was a lifestyle that made it hard to live a godly life. As time marched on, Cherise found herself returning to heavy drug use while her son was at home with her mom and sometimes, she presumed, he was with his daddy. Drugs began to play an even bigger part in the life of Marcelle, and he began to deal drugs. Through the following years, Cherise experienced heartache three different time due to miscarriages. When recalling this time of her life, she states, “I think of God’s grace and how he protected my child. How he covered my life in so many areas. I did not deserve it. In no way did I deserve it.”
About a year later, after the three miscarriages, Cherise once again became pregnant. This time they decided to move to California to stay with Marcelle’s family. This did not last long, she moved back to Washington and Marcelle stayed behind. She had no idea he was seeing someone else, much less that he and the other woman had a son together. This news would surface at a later date. This pregnancy was high risk and her second son, Malachi, was born prematurely; weighing 4lbs. 8oz. At three years old, Malachi was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which affects joints, skin and sometimes the blood vessels.
It wasn’t long until she was back to her old lifestyle. In need of money, Cherise made a decision to commit check fraud. Consequently, this only landed her a felony and rather than prison time, she was (by the grace of God) sentenced to 6 months house arrest.
As the story continues, something happens that will lead Cherise and Marcelle down a glorious road of redemption. Just as the calm before the storm, this was a point in life where the darkness was beginning to be enveloped by light. One night after work, Cherise returned home to find her friend sitting with the boys. She was informed that Marcelle, who had returned from California, had been arrested and was in jail. Thankfully, since her friend promised to stay with the boys, CPS allowed the boys to remain in the home. While Marcelle remained in jail, she had no way to contact him. So, for a few weeks she had no idea how he was doing or what was happening. Then after two weeks of feeling ashamed, he contacted her and said he had “found Jesus.” During this conversation, he spoke to Cherise like no one else had talked to her. It reminded her of things from her childhood. Unknown to her, all that investment from Mrs. Cook was seeping back into her life a little at time. This was when she began to let go of her life and let God enter in to change the lifestyle she was living. Although she did not see it this way at the time, she now knows that without God, the changes would never have been possible. God’s grace had continued to fall upon her life without her knowing.
After three months of incarceration, Marcelle returned home. To her dismay, he was not the man who had called her on the phone. They both began to slip away from the Christian life mentality; slowly returning to the lifestyle of drugs. He started becoming abusive and unfaithful. Even though she wanted to hope for a better life, Cherise was trapped in the feeling of being “stuck” in this life because of the way she felt about herself. All she could do was continue to hope that he would change. There came a moment when she realized that the drugs were becoming a danger to her boys. She once again began trying to encourage Marcelle to change by speaking words of life, but he was only angered and would reply that he was “going to Hell to take Satan’s place.”
Her aunt, who was a huge influence on her spiritual life, had moved to the area to help with the boys. She would invite Cherise and the boys to church; which eventually prompted Marcelle to attend. Even though they were attending church as a family, Cherise and Marcelle were not totally living a godly life. They were still unmarried. This made Cherise feel as though they were hypocrites. This was when they decided to get married. Cherise recalls feeling like this helped her pray for him. “I felt that because we were married, my prayers were stronger.” This began her life of praying for her marriage and her family. Though they still argued, she felt that God was telling her to “just hold on.” Soon they moved to a small area called Sudden Valley in Bellingham, WA. It was here that Cherise decided she was going to “do the Jesus thing.” As they continued to focus on trying to live a godly life, another pregnancy was announced by Cherise. Then a letter arrived that would shake Cherise causing her to contemplate her marriage as well as question having another child with this man she had just married. The letter informed Cherise that her husband had a son in California. This had happened during the time she left California and he stayed. Fortunately, a neighbor lady encouraged her to keep the baby. So, with a determination to hold on to Jesus, Cherise pressed through and decided to stay in the marriage. She gave birth to her third baby boy, Nehemiah. Despite feeling like a hypocrite, she continued to attend church. She also continued to pray. For four years she fervently and diligently prayed for her husband. It was during this time of hope that she realized it wasn’t low self-esteem keeping her with him, it was the hope of the Lord. Over the next few years, a fourth baby would be brought into the family. A baby girl named Mayrah. Cherise was focused on this new life with Jesus; and consequently, she would always be loving and encouraging to Marcelle. He however, was not receptive to her diligence to continue to love him beyond his understanding. The biggest change to affect her life was when they changed churches. It was at this point in life God would do His work and show Himself true to His promises.
The church they had started attending was hosting a men’s retreat. She encouraged Marcelle to go and had even paid for his spot without him knowing. Marcelle was determined that the only way he was going was “if the Lord Himself asks him to speak.” The next day, the church leaders asked Marcelle to speak at the retreat and share a message. Isn’t that just like God? Well, Cherise maintained a distance and did not try to contact him while he was at the retreat. She allowed him to have his experience. But on the third day, he called her. He was on his way down the mountain and he was weeping like she had never heard a man weep. He began to confess to Cherise about all the wrong he had done to her. He spoke of every hurtful thing he had committed against her. He went on to speak of how all those times he would become angry it was because of conviction. He could not understand how she could love him enough to prepare a meal for him or pray for him when he was out doing things he shouldn’t have been. Marcelle shared his experience with Cherise. He told her how he had given his message and while the others were in the prayer line or worshipping, he stepped outside. It was then that the Holy Spirit had covered him and began to remove all the anger, pain, hate and addiction that had been holding on to him all this time. He knew he had been changed. When he returned home, he was still weeping as he grabbed Reggie and claimed him as his son. Cherise could see that everything about him had changed as tears began to streak her face. The days went by and although Cherise expected everything to change back to the way it was, it never did. She realized that God had moved mightily in her life and changed her husband and marriage. This was when the God on the mountain moved in her life and gave her the desires of her heart. A loving family that serves God. Cherise now sees how even when she was living deep in sin, there were prayers going up for her and God was keeping His hand about her at all times. She wants people to know that when things seem hopeless, just hold on to God and let Him shine. He is the God on the mountain and the God in the valley.
