Up until November 11, 2003, my 54 years on this earth had no real significance. But on that day I was arrested and spent the next 17 months in the Richland Parish Detention Center in Rayville, Louisiana.
I had been raised in a Christian home and accepted Christ as my Savior at a young age. I finished college, married and had a daughter. Her father and I divorced when she was five.
With the help of a very dear friend I went back to school completing my Masters and Ph.D. In business Administration. After that I taught at a number of schools before opening my own consulting business.
During that time my friend and I opened our hearts and home to a beautiful little girl that was just a little over a year old.
After my best friend died in 2002, I mistakenly went into business with someone that turned out to what some might perceive to have been the biggest mistake of my life.
But, praise God, He has a way of turning our biggest mistakes into a greatest triumphs.
Shortly after I arrived at RPDC the Lord showed me I wasn't there for what I had done but for what I could do.
Even though I was a Christian I didn't have the relationship with Him that I should have. One night alone in my cell I surrendered every phase of my life to Him. From that day on I truly learned what it was like to walk totally by faith and not by sight.
The Lord showed me I had a talent for writing poetry. During my time behind bars the Lord place over 400 poems on my heart. These poems were shared with inmates and staff alike. Many times these poems were instrumental in opening the door in witnessing to others.
Even though during that time, my father died, my mother turned her back on me and my former business partner managed to walk away with everything I owned and wreck havoc on my family, the Lord showed me He had so much more planned for me.
Upon my release in April of this year my daughter and her boyfriend insisted that I live with them and my precious 3 year old grandson. Aren't God's plans so much better than ours? Catherine has refused my offer to work. She wants me to spend my time getting to know my grandson and concentrate on my writing.
The Lord taught me so much about building a one-to-one intimate relationship with Him, I had to put it in writing.
My newest book "I Found My Father in a Women's Prison" has been picked up and published by Red River Press Publishing. This book incorporates many stories and poems of the ladies with whom I was fortunate to spend 523 days.
Please pray for me that God will continue to use me and the talent He bestowed upon me to His glory, only.