What if the citizens of a far country decided
To make Tramp, the supermarket stray
King of all to see
After all, he is a lovable fellow, why not make him sovereign?
They might ask each other, nodding quiet approbations.
But some would know
How fragile both mutts and men are
And they would long for a Proper King, clothed in splendor but kind to His unbroken bones
One who could truly
Save us!
Revelation 19
Lately (the last four years or so)
My family has been the target of repeated, well-documented abuse from our neighbors, HOA board, and their employees.
When our attempts to get assistance from the local, state, and federal government have been time-consuming efforts in futility, my children say, not a surprise after what happened (or did not happen) with Z.
Z is a former MLB pitcher who abused his family. He attempted to murder his wife, he physically abused his children, he sexually assaulted his youngest daughter, filmed and distributed the abuse, and threatened to kill her mother and sister if she made an outcry about the abuse.
She tells a clear and compelling story about both her abuse and the strong indications that he raped the girls he coached and filmed that abuse as well.
No arrest.
He continued to coach children and work with Texas school systems.
When I came to the end of what Texas was willing to do to keep my family safe in 2011, I had to believe it was an accountability issue driven by fiscal policy.
And to survive mentally and physically I wrote a book.
We have just seen what happens when the government of Texas prioritizes budget cuts over the safety of our children.
https://www.npr.org/2025/07/13/nx-s1-5465635/camp-mystic-flood-maps-fema-texas-flooding
Time for all of us to
Tell our stories.
Lately I have been telling two stories—one is about a family devastated by unspeakable crimes…
that moved because the police and district attorneys and the government of the state of Texas enabled a violent, serial felon.
And the other about my own family, unable to move if we wanted to, because the same mechanisms of law enforcement have failed us again.
When I tell the story about the Weaponized HOA, all sane people ask why we haven’t moved?
Lis pendens and institutional neglect.
This caused me to revisit a previous post—
I have to revise my thesis from this earlier post. Poverty is not the only reason people stay in weaponized places. I am not a victim of poverty. I know what and who has victimized my family.
And I plan to stay and be
A highly articulate ghost.
Like many people, I have often wished that there was more in the Bible about what Lazarus did or felt or said. He is this absolutely pivotal figure in the narrative—man raised from the dead after 4 days!
Yet he is silent. He does not have a speaking part.
We don’t know his age or his jobs or his reaction to resurrection, and there is a reason for this—
We are all Lazarus.
Each of us is the one whose redemption and resurrection become the direct catalyst for the Cross.
Each of us is “the helpless dead” until Jesus walks in.
Not a moment too soon or too late, despite what the appearances, the grief, and the conditions of the sepulcher might say otherwise.
After it became clear that the state of Texas was not going to provide adequate consequences for the assailant or adequate protections for the victims, I did three things—
I wrote a book so there would be a record of what had happened to us.
I asked to move and tried to expect less of law enforcement (a person cannot change who they are without losses).
I became involved in extreme sports. I became an adrenaline junkie.
Facing my fear and pouring myself into physical challenges with the risk of pain helped me to ease the grief, anger, and helplessness of what had happened to people I loved.
Like all addiction, this was not a long term solution, but it did help me.
Routinely facing fear of physical harm helped me to be more courageous when there was only the fear of human ostracism.
I still seek the adrenaline rush and lately it has been through swimming in challenging conditions.
Carrying Light 