Author: Julie Lyons

is a journalist, author, and editor. She lives in Dallas with her husband and son.

When my family struggled financially, I noticed something seeping up from my heart: a sickening, dog-eat-dog kind of mentality that secretly resented others I knew who were doing better and sought to compete for little scraps of material provision. I thought I was above these kinds of attitudes—I really did.

An object of relentless teasing and rejection. A victim of gang rape at gunpoint during a home invasion. Raped by her stepfather. Tawana grew up wondering if God even existed.

We named it, we claimed it.

We bound devils and loosed riches, stomped our feet and waved our fists until we were sweaty and hoarse and a little ridiculous.

We stood by our mailboxes and ripped open our bank statements, looking for “supernatural blessings.”