NO STONE UNTURNED

For three years I was locked up following my trial.  Falsely accused and wrongly convicted didn't matter inside.  I was accepted in just like everybody else for we all had the same problem....the system.  And I came to find others like me.  The same ole dance...those with money and power prevail in the justice system.  A system that was originally set up as "truth and justice" is far from that.  Quite often the guilty are set free because of technicalities and the innocent haven't a chance.  There is a joke among Dallas prosecutors I am told..."It's much easier to get a conviction for a guilty person than an innocent person."  So, they have to work a little harder, but the challenge is there and their quotas are met.  Why do you think Craig Watkins, while running for reelection as Dallas County DA, could brag about a 99.4% conviction rate?  They are absolutely motivated to put everybody away....that's politics for you.  Pray that you are never falsely accused, I guarantee you it took me by surprise.  I have learned from it...here are a few of my learnings:

• Document everything in every possible way.
• Surround yourself with trustworthy witnesses (those without a price).
• The people incarcerated are just ordinary people (for the most part).
• Faith is the only thing that will get you through with a semblance of sanity.
• Family and true friends are always there.
• We absolutely are not islands but need people in our lives.
• God does work through others.
• God keeps his promises, even now, even though we are dirt poor, we have everything we need.
• Everything happens in God's time, not according to my schedule.
• Under every stone is a treasure.

Leave no stone unturned....beauty, understanding and love are all there if you are willing see them, receive them and cherish them.  I do know there is justice but not always on earth.  I trust that God's plan will prevail and that it will be for the greater good of all.  I do not know how that looks in my life but I am trusting that my family and I will be okay and safe.  Three years seemed like forever on the "inside" but now there is such a healing that has occurred being with my loved ones again....almost as if no time passed.  Remember, no stone unturned...look for the beauty and wonder in everything.  Live fully in the present for tomorrow (on earth) is promised to no one.

In my appeal/habeas corpus...absolutely no stone will be unturned.  The answers will come.  For the remainder of my life I will live in gratitude for each moment.  Each moment absolutely is a gift.  Sometimes it takes a real shake-up in a person's life to get those old priorities right.  Let that lesson be easier for you.