Why We’ve Gone Public A few years back, my wife Leah and I created a publishing house for managing only our personal Christian and inspirational books, ebooks and audiobooks. While God has blessed our efforts, we’ve struggled to watch as good people are taken advantage of by unscrupulous “publishers.” After years of praying about opening up our services to the public, God has provided us with an incredible team of professionals fully capable of caring for your dream of having

24 Days of 31: How Could You? I was talking with a friend this week. He only knows I was a cop at some point, at some place, for some time. It was never important to tell him details because it’s not what our friendship is based on. Men Men especially, find their identity in the work they do. Being a husband, father, friend or follower of Christ always falls behind the career. So I was surprised that he brought it up and to be honest, I couldn’t tell you what he does for a li

Unforgiveness: It’s Your Jailer Struggling with past relationships, regrets or recollections that stir misery or pain in your life? Don’t misunderstand the negative power of unforgiving. It does cause pain, and can lead to physical illnesses and emotional misery. It’s sort of a pain prison where the ones we refuse to forgive are our jailers. They tug the chain, and we feel the pain. We can cut that invisible cord right this second by forgiving them. The three keys to genuinel

FIT@50 / week 72 Release, Relief, Renew: Talk about a week for the books. This has been one emotional roller coaster for Liliana Hart and I. Maybe more like that ride that spins and you’re in a tea cup until you vomit. No, that’s not the ride. I really don’t know much about rides because they scare me. The same way Liliana scares me the week of a new novel. We survived the release of her 47th title on Tuesday. Barely. We cut our European adventure short to head home for catc

Understanding Police: My PhD Research I’m still in shock over the North Miami Police shooting of Charles Kinsey. I keep waiting for a plausible explanation before I make any comment on this. It’s hard, very hard to just remain silent. So many folks want to understand the world of law enforcement, but will never gain an objective perspective. My research conducted for my PhD has been published twice – once as a textbook titled, Cop Culture: Why Good Cops Go Bad, and the other

Change Responsibly – Stretching the Police: Going through old files, I came across a collection of video topics from my former agency’s annual summit. This, like many agencies host meetings to set the tone and sharpen the vision. There are only messages of community service through most agency missions. Police are not the enemy. Their job is difficult and challenging. It is truly a double-edge sword where you’re the savior who pulls daddy off from molesting his daughter, yet

FIT@50 / week 70 White Flag: The white flag is usually associated with surrender. I’m not about to wave that sucker. This week my flag has been the Irish’s color of kelly green. Though it’s a bit exhausting. I’ve had a great time chronicling Liliana Hart and my adventures across Europe – If you’ve just awaken, check hashtag ‪#‎EuroDash16‬ I’m going to minimize this post because I have to wear a shirt and regular pants for tonight’s event, and someone has to get the ironing do

FIT@50 / week 69 Price of Pizza: This week while in Paris, Liliana Hart and I took off on the city in a series of pedicab driven adventures. To say the experience was anything less than epic would be an understatement. But at what price? I’m always talking with her and our kids about situational awareness. The boys think it’s funny, while the girls think I’m trying to make the junior high boys afraid of them (maybe both.) After a lift to the Tour Eiffel, we looked down upon a

FIT@50 / week 68 Talk, It’s What’s For Dinner: Liliana Hart & I eat out. A Lot. It’s what we do and what we enjoy. We work at home, so our chance to avoid being creepy homebodies is to go out and socialize with other humans. I love talking to people, so it’s a natural fit for me. I actually chased down the mail carrier to say hello. The kids also eat out. A Lot. It’s what they do, and what they enjoy. Besides it’s easier and much quicker to feed eight than to buy various food

FIT@50 / week 67 Just Do It: I can tell you that the last place you would have found me on a Thursday night is the opera house. Yet, guess where I spent Thursday night? Yep, downtown Dallas at an opera house. Liliana Hart and I do lots of things for and because of each other. We’re a team, and it’s what we do. But when it comes to finding something that five very different kids agree on, she and I have learned to just do it. So when she nudged me and the boys off of the pergo

FIT@50 / week 66 True Power: “When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.” – Jimi Hendrix This week I received two notices about Chief of Police positions in Louisiana. My immediate thoughts were “No thanks.” It was about this time last year that I’d announced my August 28th retirement date. I would’ve never in a million years thought retirement from the only job I’d known would’ve been a reality. To be honest, I just assumed, and was happy w

FIT@50 / week 40 Big Shoes Facebook launches these memories and top posts apps along with other fun and invasive things every so often. I admit, I fell for it. My top 3 posts for 2015 was my retirement as Chief of Police, my marriage to Liliana Hart and Max & me. It was the perfect trifecta. Those three simple pictures illustrated the Big Shoes approach I take to life. It’s not about outdoing anyone else. It’s about being present in the lives of others. It’s about leaving a g

FIT@50 / week 39 Let’s Walk The water in the background is Bayou Lafourche. Growing up in Cajun Country I swam in that bayou, paddled a pirogue in that bayou, fished in that bayou and played in that bayou. I never once in 50 years ever walked across that bayou. Not until recently. It was a Saturday festival downtown and we looked for the rare space to park. I suggested we walk. And we did. About half way across I stopped and told Liliana Hart it was the first time I ever walk

FIT@50 \ week 14 Balance Thursday night at a family birthday supper my niece said how odd it looked to see a wedding ring on my hand. I said it throws me off balance. Then I thought about what I said. There’s a weight associated with this ring. It’s called balance. To shift from decades of doing what I wanted, when I wanted to coordinating daily calendars for meeting the needs of the family took balance. Shifting gears from an “I want” to “We need” has been easier than I woul

Standing Guard: I stood watch all night as poor kiddo was in and out of the bathroom. Watching from the foot of his bed I realized how easy it was to know when to react based on his body’s movements of feeling distressed. Being FIT requires an ability to guard against the things in life not so obvious. Things such as gossip and harsh words against your character. While you don’t have control over when or what naysayers slander you, you do have the control over your actions. I

FIT@50 \ week 6 Maxed Out Today is Max’s birthday. This picture becomes more special to me each year. It was taken moments after he arrived—perfect. There was no Down syndrome, no mental, physical, emotional or social challenges in this picture. There was no speech therapy, physical therapy or occupational therapy in this picture. There was no blame or shame in this picture. There was also no idea about the joy of God’s merciful blessing in this picture. There was no shift i

This week honors Emergency Dispatchers – the life lines who answer frantic 9-1-1 calls, dispatches officers to the scene and records the funny or painful details of each call for service. Often unsung, Emergency Communications Operators are the true heroes – Hug a Police Dispatcher – Do it today #police #copculture #LawEnforcement #NationalTelecommunicationsOperators #Policeculture #Silverii #Dispatcher #911 #PoliceRadio

FIT@50 \ week 4: 1 hour – I was feeling a bit omniscient this week as my 25th year in law enforcement roared around. Sharing a few old stories with the guys helped me reflect on how incredibly different my life had turned out. Our historical journey migrated to a generational generalization. You know the one about, “kids now a days…” Seems the moment 8 hours of accrued leave is earned, some employees miraculously become ill for precisely 8 hours. Just then a commander interru

It’s My Anniversary: This has been a banner year for me. Within weeks of celebrating my 50th birthday, I’m now blessed with my 25th Anniversary. This is the date I answered the call, and the lifelong desire to serve became reality. It’s the day I became part of another, much bigger family that didn’t always share with my first one. It was the year I first gained new brothers and sisters, and became part of something mystical called the Blue. My Anniversary also means more tha

Last month I visited the National Law Enforcement Memorial in Washington, DC. I stood over the granite wall with the carvings of more than 20,000 names of officers killed for no other reason than reporting for duty. I knelt at panel 38-E:25 and ran my fingers over his name – Octavio Rafael Gonzales. The feigned smile exchanged the grief I’ve carried over the years for a public show of respect. On the very next panel, number 36-E: 27 – Timothy Bergeron elicited the same respon