This is the last time I will defend my character. Here is MY TRUTH.

THIS IS THE LAST TIME I WILL DEFEND MY CHARACTER. I am ONLY posting this as a response to so many friends and facebook family that are asking me why someone is posting such hurtful things about me and even asking what is true. Some are dragged into this situation by a person that is using bully tactics to intimidate me and for that I am sorry. THESE ARE THE FACTS-
YES SEVERAL OF MY SONGS HAVE BEEN STOLEN AND EXPLOITED. 
Because I won’t surrender, I am being threatened and slandered. This person owes me thousands of dollars and is causing me to lose my house and nearly bankrupting me because I trusted his word. His whole platform is built on lies. Yes, he has been good to me in the past. But, something changed when he decided he wanted to be a famous star before he died. He has “millions of dollars and power from the White house to the courthouse to fight me successfully”. He knows me. He knows that I do not.He thinks this will scare me. I don't scare easily. I only have FAITH and a little bit of belief left in the justice system. …and I mean A LITTLE BIT. I am open with my struggles. Not because I benefit from it in anyway. But, because it is my testimony. I have NOTHING to hide, misconstrue, avoid or lie about. I am a songwriter. I am not a politician. My SONGS are MY STORIES and some can not be re-written for sale. 
I am a sinner. I have a past. I have had times where I was selfish, manipulative and LOST. I have a long list of mistakes I have made in my life. I am not ashamed. I am SAVED from that person. My life IS an OPEN BOOK. Literally. I am NOT a thief and although I respect those in recovery greatly, I am not and never have been a drug user. I smoked marijuana when I was younger and it did not make me anything but psychotic. I can honestly say I HAVE NEVER done anything more than that. So, there you go. I have been over trusting with the WRONG people because of my lack of self worth at times. I suffer and have (until recently) recovered from PTSD and acute panic disorder. I am NOT crazy either. I have been in therapy because of my LIFE not because of any mental “disorder”. 
My biological father was killed when I was a small child. My step father adopted me and died in front of me from Leukemia a few years after that. My mother suffered a mental breakdown, so I grew up for many years in project housing in the ghetto by my grandmother who I write about frequently. I got hit by a car at 14 and nearly died. I temporarily lost my vision and spent almost a year in recovery from injuries. Shortly, there after I suffered from PTSD, before ANYONE knew what it was so, I spent the majority of the next two years in and out of mental hospitals, where I was strapped to a bed and medicated for something that now is treated simply with therapy. I watched my mother suffer through lung cancer and a brain tumor and now daily she suffers (as do those who love her) with dementia. I overcame 10 years in an abusive marriage where I was routinely taken by a plot of land and told this is where I would be buried. Have been burned and broken and left everything I owned for the sake of my children. At that time, I felt deserving of that abuse. But, REFUSED to let my children see it. I was arrested for a crime that I didn’t commit due to that abusive marriage. I had no money for a defense and continue to live with the scars of that. I have lost everything and started all over again with nothing. I have had my children kidnapped and retrieved them myself (and a really good friend) with NO help from the state of Florida because of their laws, despite the fact they were NCIC listed. It was a battle that was long and tried my faith more than anything but, the Lord used that struggle to make my children and I so close. Our bond will NEVER be broken. I actually prayed over the person that took them from me. A person I hated more than anything at one time. That is what God’s love does. I have raised my children, alone, through trial and error and with no financial assistance except for a moment where I was allowed food stamps. I went back to college driving from Memphis to Covington in a car that over heated every 15 miles. I prayed my youngest son through the roughest adolescence-chasing him and praying faithfully. Now he is a drug free successful young man that just got his second promotion. My children watch all of this and ask me how can my faith be strong. I tell them because God is merciful and NEVER has left us. My children have seen more struggle and heart ache than I can even process. They are survivors. They are my greatest strength and biggest accomplishment. So, THIS new BATTLE that I walk is painful for them but, FOR THEM I will continue.
I still, everyday, rely SOLELY on the Lord to meet the simplest of needs such as utilities and food. I STILL follow the path the Lord has directed me to teaching students to write songs. Songwriting literally saved my life. I see students overcome their struggles through this process as well. I KNOW THE LORD CALLED ME TO THIS. This road I travel is hard and let me assure you it is not paved with gold or even without large holes I often stumble into, but I travel behind the footsteps of an ALMIGHTY GOD. 
Through ALL OF THIS I shared with you- I STILL say GOD IS GOOD. My story is my testimony. Often that story isn’t in words but, in songs. I have lived a life of fighting THROUGH. I have no skeletons in my closet because my past, mistakes and all, are MY WITNESS that there is a being far greater than ME that has STRENGTH far greater than MINE. I am CONDITIONED for this battle- I WILL NOT SURRENDER WHAT IS MINE. I may lose EVERYTHING in the process but I WILL NOT GIVE UP until my Lord tells me.
So, if ANYONE has any questions as to my integrity or character I WILL GLADLY answer any one of them. I once lived in lies and secrets because of shame. But, I have been freed from that for many years now. I HAVE NOTHING to hide or misrepresent. I have NEVER been about greed because I have never had a lot of material things or money. 
If you KNOW me then you KNOW this. If you don’t PLEASE ASK ME. Don’t assume gossip is truth- about ME or ANYONE for that matter. We all have a story. Some are just different than others. There it is almost, EVERYTHING. Thank you, Lord for direction and favor. I will share my victory in this as well, when you allow it. My FAITH is BIG. My God is BIGGER. “No weapon formed against me shall prosper”. Thank you for your prayers and support.