Families are the nucleolus of all societies worldwide. The family unit is means of procreation and growth, but is also the environment where children learn morals, values, and how to harmoniously live in community with others. Strong and healthy family relationships have a positive impact on the immediate household members and the local community in which they live. Children living in close relationship to family members learn how to follow rules, honor authority, and put others before themselves. These life skills have a ripple affect that carries on throughout society. Healthy families lead to healthy communities which result in an overall healthier society. Statistics show that there has been a significant breakdown of the traditional family unit. In 1960, 73% of all children were living in a family with two married parents in their first marriage. (“The American Family Today.”) According to the US Census Bureau, the number of children living with two parents has dropped since 1968, while the percentage living with their mother only has doubled. (Hemez and Washington) Family structure has dramatically changed over the years and become very fluid. Parents’ often divorce, cohabitate, remarry, and change partners multiple times during a child’s life. These changes force the child to adjust to new family members, lifestyle changes, and shifts in household rules upsetting a pattern of consistency and security. I would like to see family units stay together and be strengthened with a sense of unity and longevity. I believe that the traditional family is the pilar of a stable and productive community leading to a stronger country and an overall healthier world. The world is ever changing, and it can be difficult to go back to traditional values, but I feel families are of great value to our world and they are worth fighting for. In 2015, my family partnered with another local family to form a non-profit called The Work in Gilmer. The Work in Gilmer existed to provide not a handout but a hand up to people in need. This organization provided financial assistance, material help, tutoring, counseling, and ramp building. I volunteered as the Development Director from 2015-2017. The Gilmer Chamber of Commerce awarded The Humanitarian Award to The Work in Gilmer in 2016 for our outstanding work in the community. In January 2017, we founded another non-profit organization called Open Door Pregnancy Center. I volunteered as the Executive Director until the center was financially able to provide me with a small salary in 2019. Open Door Pregnancy Center is a place for men and women to find caring and compassionate help with an unplanned pregnancy by providing physical, spiritual, and emotional support. All our services are provided free of charge to our clients. These services include pregnancy tests, limited OB ultrasound, prenatal classes, parenting classes, relationship mentoring, community referrals, fatherhood program, life skill classes, maternity, and baby supplies. All these support services are intended to help struggling families and individuals to build secure healthy family units. Our volunteers are trained to help clients evaluate their family circumstances and coach them in developing ongoing healthy relationships. Screening for domestic violence and other potential risk factors are a vital part of helping individuals provide a stable home for their children. Open Door is equipped to provide support to single parents, married couples, and parents who are co-parenting up until the child is about 2 to 3 years of age. We ask our parents to participate in coaching, parenting classes, and mentoring to get maternity and baby supplies. This program is called Earn While You Learn and is intended to help break the cycle of poverty and entitlement by asking parents to make an investment of their time to earn the needed supplies. It gives us the opportunity to instill family values in the lives of our clients as we continue to meet their physical needs. Our fatherhood program is of great importance. Statistics show that children perform better and are more likely to stay out of trouble when their father is involved in their lives. Our male advocate works with fathers to teach them how to stay involved, how to respectfully treat women, and how to effectively discipline their children when problems arise. Families need fathers to be involved in child rearing. Fathers bring stability, support, and protection to the family unit. Our newest program is providing court required parenting classes for families involved with Child Protective Services. The families participating in these classes have open cases with CPS and may have had their children removed from their custody for various reasons. We provide a series of 10 classes that cover drug use, child neglect, teach healthy parenting habits and discipline methods. These classes are truly helping to rebuild families that are operating in brokenness and disfunction. If families need more support, then our services are made available to them after completion of their required classes. Families are the basis of our society. If the family functions well then society can function well. I am dedicated to providing real and quality services to families who are struggling financially and relationally through the ministry of Open Door Pregnancy Center. It is an honor and a privilege to work with all types of families and parents who are trying their best to provide a stable and secure home for their children. “The American Family Today.” pewresearch.org, 17 December 2015, https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2015/12/17/1-the-american-family-today/ Hemez, Paul and Washington, Chanell. “Percentage and Number of Children Living With Two Parents Has Dropped Since 1968.” United States Census Bureau, 12 April 2021, https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2021/04/number-of-children-living-only-with-their-mothers-has-doubled-in-past-50-years.html

1. As a young child, I have fond memories of sitting in my mother’s lap playing with the zipper on her purple velvet robe as my Daddy read the Bible to our family every evening before bed. My father was and still is a strong follower and student of Jesus Christ and His teaching in scripture. Dad taught me that all my core values and beliefs should be based on the Word of God. I believe that following Jesus Christ is the most important decision a person will ever make. This decision results in a relationship with God that should mold and form our personhood, thoughts, opinions, and beliefs. The dignity of all human life, the sanctity of marriage, and living a sexually pure life are a few core beliefs that I have learned from the bible and tried to demonstrate in my own life. In 2010, a new friend shared her testimony with me during a casual lunch. Her story included two abortions that left her struggling with guilt, shame, and anxiety. My friend was stuck in her grief and unable to function well. I had the privilege of being her prayer partner while she went through intensive Christian counseling. That moment when a woman recognizes her sin and reaches out to Christ with a repentant heart is so intimate and beautiful. Seeing women move from brokenness into a thriving relationship with Christ is what drives me to continue serving women through the pro-life ministry of a pregnancy resource center. It’s not just saving babies from abortion, but it is introducing women to a Christ and watching Him transform their pregnancy decision, lifestyle, and choices. I have been the Executive Director of Open Door Pregnancy Center for 5 years. This ministry is exactly what God has called me to do and He allows me to use it to further His kingdom. 2. Excellence means doing everything to the best of my ability for the purpose of bringing glory to God. First, I am learning that to maintain a full schedule of work, family, and furthering my education I must take good care of myself. This means making a habit of tending to my own physical, spiritual, and emotional needs. I am dedicated to serving others but if I am not well in all areas of my life then I will not be able to fulfill my commitments. I am married, have one teenager at home, run a pregnancy resource center, serve in my church, and am pursing my college degree. Secondly, being organized is a must in pursing excellence. Maintaining a calendar with a to do list helps to keep track of deadlines, projects, and tasks that need to be completed. Finally, setting clear goals helps me pursue excellence by maintaining a clear direction and purpose. Goals serve as motivation and a gauge to measure success and growth. Doing all things with excellence bring personal satisfaction to my life and glorifies God by allowing others to Him working through my life. 3. I am truly currently living out my dream of being a minister of Jesus Christ to women who are hurting. God has orchestrated all things in my life to allow me the opportunity to serve, therefore; I must first give thanks and praise to the Him for putting me at Open Door Pregnancy Center. In addition, I also want to tell my husband thank you for standing by me, encouraging me, and sharing my attention with so many other people. I could not fulfill all of my commitments without the loving support of my husband.

The great state of Texas has a big reputation that stretches worldwide. When I was a junior high school student our family hosted a Rotary International exchange student from Germany. One of the first questions he asked after disembarking from the airplane was, "Where are the tumbleweeds, horses, and the cowboys wearing hats?" He fully expected that all of us would be wearing boots, jeans, and cowboy hats. People from all over the world envision Texas to be like the old western movies and West Texas with tumbleweeds, livestock, and cowboys. It was fun educating him about the different areas and traditions of Texas. For me, being a Texan includes a western lifestyle of riding horses, wearing jeans, and boots but being a Texan is much more. I was born and raised in Texas so I do share in the conservative values that our state is known for. These values include individual freedom, limited government, the rule of law, peace through strength, free markets, and human dignity. Many of these values are built on a Christian foundation as the bible belt runs right through our great state. As I Texan and a Christian, I have been taught to stand up for what I believe in and to defend my rights. I am thankful to have been taught a strong belief system with Texas values and morals. Being a Texas has made me strong!

If I were a highly influential figure, I would stand up for women who are victims of domestic violence. No woman ever dreams to be a victim or makes plans to be abused; however, adverse circumstances in life often cause women to get trapped in abusive relationships. There are many factors that cause women to become abuse victims. These factors include childhood abuse, low-income, unwanted pregnancy, and low self esteem. Providing education, resources, and intervention to at risk women can empower them to make better relationship choices and set healthy boundaries. The general public also needs to be educated and made aware of domestic violence. Most people do not understand how prevalent abuse is in all socioeconomic groups of people. Abuse is often a hidden and quite problem that happens behind closed doors. It is my desire for men and women to learn the warning signs of abuse as well as risk factors. The sooner we can educate people about the signs and risk factors of abuse, the sooner we can stop the unnecessary suffering.

In 2010, I met a new friend who was often sad and struggled with anxiety. I was not able to understand her struggle until she shared her personal story of having two abortions. I quickly connected her with a group called Christ Centered Abortion Recovery and Education. As my friend went through the post-abortion healing study, Surrendering the Secret, I served as her prayer partner and confidant. God allowed me to have a front row seat to the pain, guilt, and shame that consumed her thoughts and emotions each day. Upon completion of her study, she asked me to attend a leader training seminar so that she and I could offer the study in our local community. We traveled to Dallas, Texas and became certified Surrendering the Secret leaders. We formed a group and began offering the study to post abortive women in our community. It was an honor to hear each woman's story and help her find healing and restoration from her past abortion(s). God used this experience to place a passion in my heart to advocate for the unborn but also to advocate for mothers of the unborn. Abortion always takes the life of an unborn baby, but it also steals the peace and joy from the mother's heart. Mothers who make the decision to have an abortion must live with the emotional and spiritual consequences for the rest of their lives. Not a day went by that my friend didn't think about who her baby would have been and the day he or she should have been born. Unanswered questions continually haunted her thoughts. Watching my friend struggle taught me that abortion is not a healthy choice for unborn babies or for women. As a result of my experience, in 2017 I opened a pregnancy resource center in my community. Open Door Pregnancy Center is a 501c3 organization located in Gilmer, Texas. We are a Care Net affiliated center that has provided life saving services to almost 400 individuals in a rural East Texas community. This year, from January 2021 to August 2021, our center has saved 14 babies from abortion. Our free services include pregnancy tests, limited OB ultrasound, prenatal classes, parenting classes, a fatherhood program, maternity and baby supplies. Every decision for life that is made by a mother means that there will be a baby born who needs to be cared for and parents who need to be equipped for parenting. I think it is not only our responsibility to save babies from abortion, but we should also continue on by assisting those families in becoming successful parents. Occasionally, that may mean helping a family place a baby for adoption but most often it means providing families with love and support as they raise a child. I believe that abortion can be stopped by providing men and women with real options that can empower positive parenting decisions.