Jacob Barr (00:02) Okay, here we go. So welcome to the Pro Life Team Podcast. I'm Jacob and today I'm with Kim Ford. Kim, go ahead and tell us a little bit about yourself and then yeah, tell us about your pro life work. Kim Ford (00:17) Okay. All right. Well, hi, Jacob. Thank you for having me. I'm very excited. This is my first podcast ever. Anyway, to tell you about myself in brief, I originally was born and raised in New Jersey and lived there till my early 20s when I moved to Indiana for grad school and then met my husband there. And then we moved to Alaska about 35 years ago. And I'll fill in some of the blanks later, but yeah, we've been here and love Alaska and you've probably heard of it. Wasilla is where Sarah Palin is from and her ex-father-in-law just lives four doors down. So we know the Palins and anyway, yeah, that's us. We've been here for a while. Oh, and I'm a mom and a grandma of seven. Jacob Barr (01:12) Yeah, cool. Kim Ford (01:16) and a wife and yeah and I was part of the pro-life ministry for many years at a pregnancy center which is the next question right you said so Jacob Barr (01:25) Sure. Yeah. Tell us about your pro-life work or your journey working in the pro-life space. Kim Ford (01:32) Okay. Well, I started out as a 19 year old. I was home ⁓ for the summer in New Jersey and I was drawn into working at a pregnancy center in the early 80s. And at that time, ⁓ I worked Saturday mornings. I ran the center by myself. It was small, but I was there alone, had been trained. And I did the counseling for anybody coming in with a crisis pregnancy issue. And at that time, ⁓ the way we were trained was to do, pop in a VHS of an abortion and how they did them and they would show them and they were gruesome. And I wasn't very comfortable with that, but I believed in the sanctity of human life. That's where I started. And then ended up in grad school in Indiana and got my master's in biblical counseling with the Larry Crabb program there at Grace Seminary. And that's where I met my husband. And once we were both done with our programs, we moved to Alaska. My husband wanted to become a teacher here and a coach. And that was always his dream. So that's where we... We ended up up here. And anyway, as soon as I got into Alaska, ⁓ like within the minute, I was pregnant and I was not expecting it. And that, yeah, that was hard for me because I wasn't good at ⁓ unexpected things and I had trained, you know, I took a couple of years to go through grad school and work my way through. And then all of a sudden I found out I was pregnant when I was planning on getting a job and counseling and ⁓ working full time. And I was so sick. The morning sickness was horrendous. I remember going to an interview and barely making it through without throwing up. And so I realized I can't work. so that was kind of hard. I had a negative mindset about an unexpected pregnancy. ⁓ But I made it through that and within weeks, I would say my mindset was different. I mean, we were facing some real financial challenges because he wasn't hired immediately. He was subbing and an assistant coach. There wasn't a lot of money coming in. But ⁓ I guess I see God was using that. in my life to help me understand where, you know, for future where he was going to take me and being a client services manager and mentor for clients. ⁓ And it kept rolling for a while because 12 weeks after I had my son, I was pregnant again. And ⁓ very unexpected again, ⁓ not a positive response for me at first. Jacob Barr (04:36) Yeah. Kim Ford (04:43) And anyway, ⁓ soon after that got placenta previa. And so in having that, kind of knocked my nervousness loose about being pregnant. And I realized, yeah, I do want this baby, even though I can't imagine how I'm going to have two babies. Because I was never a babysitter or like I just was not a. little kid person. had been the youngest in my family and I just had not been around little ones. And so it was daunting to me and I understood where others could find themselves not excited about pregnancy, even though I was married. ⁓ And yeah, also I didn't mention that God was very faithful in in the middle of the first semester of the school year. He did get hired as a teacher. And then, ⁓ you know, we became managers for a complex, a rental complex, and a 46 unit one. So we were busy. We had ⁓ free ⁓ rent and utilities and everything God provided over and above what we needed. yeah. ⁓ And then I'm trying to remember. where I just left off. So yes, so we had our second child, Katie, and then I kind of got the hang of being a mom and I wanted to volunteer at HeartReach, well, at the time it was called Valley Crisis Pregnancy Center, which since the name has changed to HeartReach Center, because it has expanded its services to do so much more. But I started volunteering and I loved it there. And I felt like God was using me and those experiences that I had just had with having babies that I could understand and relate and empathize with young women who were facing an unplanned pregnancy and maybe weren't excited. Yeah, and then I got pregnant again. So ⁓ I had three kids in very close proximity. Jacob Barr (06:58) Thank Kim Ford (07:06) And from there went into some moderate depression. And I felt so guilty about it as a Christian, ⁓ really bad about myself. And I felt kind of trapped at home, even though I loved my kids wildly. I went through that and my doctor just really helped me see that I couldn't pull myself up by my bootstraps. It wasn't something to... kicked myself about that I was depleted in sleep and in some hormones and that we needed to do some medical treatment for that to take some medicine, which I did for a few years. So that helped me to understand postpartum depression and some of those struggles. in Alaska, we have a unique situation in the winter where it's quite dark most of the time and we have about five hours ⁓ Jacob Barr (07:56) Thank you. Kim Ford (08:04) daylight kind of ⁓ in the dead of winter, but you can really struggle. A woman could really struggle with that. so, you know, being home with three littles, one that was sick, 11 out of 12 months, one year, ⁓ God just, I feel like he was just preparing me to really understand all the different situations that women could be experiencing here with pregnancy. Jacob Barr (08:10) Thank you. Kim Ford (08:33) And then I had the joy of being hired at HeartReach later in 2006. And I worked ⁓ for a while part-time there as the client, or the title was Director of Client Services at that time. I ended up needing to go full-time, so I switched for some years until back at HeartReach, they had expanded the hours and ⁓ I became the Client Services Manager again for about seven years. Jacob Barr (08:50) Thank Kim Ford (09:02) Did I answer your question? Jacob Barr (09:02) Wow. That's a, your story, your journey. And I think, so based on what you just shared, ⁓ where did you see God present in those hard times or where was God in those harder times? Kim Ford (09:20) Yeah, he was very patient with me. I just, in those days, I just was not very solid in dealing with hardship. And he was always there providing lots of people to be of help to me. My church family was wonderful, my sister-in-law. And my husband, very much encouraged me that ⁓ raising a family was my ministry. Part of my sadness was that I had trained to be a counselor and I wasn't able to do that. Like as soon as I got done and came here, that was taken off the table for me. ⁓ But actually I think it was a continuing training ground for me to to be able to do the work and I think that was his purpose all along was that I would live it first. And he walked very closely beside me. I have written about depression. I have a blog and Christian's in depression and I, yeah, I just feel like he took me through so many things so that hopefully I could be of help to others. Jacob Barr (10:43) And so what did, yeah, so as an author, tell us, you know, give an intro or tell us about the children's book that you have been working on or you have, you're publishing. Kim Ford (10:56) Okay, well, I have written six books called, well, the series is called the Made for Our Family series. And this is the first one that's in print. I don't know if you can see it. I think, and this is where I sent you the big surprise. And this is about my first grandchild, Paul. And so yeah, when I got out, when I had to leave Heartreach, it was due to my mother being Jacob Barr (11:08) Yeah Kim Ford (11:24) diagnosed with terminal cancer, I had to leave. And so it took us on this long journey of dealing with that and then settling her estate. And then I needed a hip replacement. So I was out of, I mean, I had to be in the home most of the time. And so I started writing for the faith column in our newspaper. They asked me to do that and I enjoyed it. I found that I loved it and I got a lot of good feedback. And so then I started the blog and Then I started writing, during that time, my daughters were having children, just like me. They kept having them. We're now up to seven grandchildren and two foster grands. And ⁓ their stories, God was really in their stories too. It was an amazing opportunity really to write about a lot of topics that surround sanctity of human life, fetal development, becoming a big sibling, ⁓ all kinds of things that I wanted to teach kids ages three to eight. And so I switched to writing for children. I thought it would be very quick and easy and it has not been easy at all. In fact, I find it much easier to write for adults. ⁓ But my desire was to really impact young families and children to equip the young families to teach their children to have a deeply rooted value for the sanctity of human life. And I also get to share the gospel in one of the stories that is in the second book, which should be coming out, well, I want to say December, but let's say the first of the year. Yeah, but so God has really like written their stories to be so unique and to teach so many different things. And you'd think six books, seven books. ⁓ But yeah, there's a lot there. The seventh book that's not written yet will, if things go well, ⁓ I plan to write about fostering and adoption, which is still part of our story, but ⁓ not written yet. But ⁓ I want to share. Silas's story, so Paul was the first grandchild. The second grandchild, Silas, he was born during the 2018 earthquake in Alaska, which was a 7.1 earthquake. And the title is The Birth That Shook the Earth. And in that story, there are things that I teach about pregnancy and being born and becoming a bigger family and stuff. So his name, Silas, had been picked out. before he was born, which if you know the story of Paul and Silas in the Bible, they go through the earthquake, they stay in the prison even though they're released. And there's just a lot of parallels there with birth and it's kind of fun. And then ⁓ we switched to telling the story, ⁓ we meaning me, the illustrator, the story of how they stayed in the prison, they get to share the story of ⁓ you know, the biblical account and how to be saved. You know, the jailer says, what must I do to be saved? He's so impressed with Paul and Silas. And, you know, it gives the opportunity for me to use scripture and for parents to have that conversation with their kids. The books are written to be interactive. There's questions. Yeah, let me show you. You have the book, but. Jacob Barr (15:11) The first one, it mentioned that it was for between like maybe kindergarten or first grade through with the third grade or fourth grade. Kim Ford (15:20) You know, there are third graders that I'm hearing are loving it, that they're reading it on their own and they're really engaging with it. Yeah, and because it's a picture book, it was given, I think, three to seven or preschool to age seven, but there's, I know, at least three eight-year-olds who are very engaged with the book that are, you know, related to me or friends. Jacob Barr (15:35) ⁓ okay. Kim Ford (15:46) Yeah, so this one is like, know, which food would you find yummy or yucky because the baby can taste in the womb. And so, ⁓ and then there's also other interactive things like questions about their own birth and whatever the topic is, there are questions to ask the children and engage them in conversation. But also in book one, the big surprise, we, I use the analogy of a pumpkin. so I don't know if you can even see this, but pumpkin seed is like the size of a fingernail, you know, and that's how the baby starts. And so that gives children an idea. And then second trimester is about this. That's shown in the book too, with the mom having the baby in her belly where you can see through inside her womb with the baby. But then you also see the pumpkin about, this is about two pounds. And then, one's a little heavier and this would be a third trimester. This would be quite a big baby, ⁓ babies are typically anywhere from six to 10 pounds. And so this fits into that almost 10 pound category. I can hardly hold it. ⁓ Yeah, so it helps children. They can really relate to these things. ⁓ Jacob Barr (17:00) Wow, it's true. Kim Ford (17:10) I'm hoping that it's a resource like here's this this one here where there kids are able to see and it gives facts to about ⁓ you know what's actually taking place developmental wise and teaches about ultrasound. That's a biggie. I want kids to know at an early age what an ultrasound is and and how it's used to ⁓ help parents know what's going on at that stage. Jacob Barr (17:39) Would you read the text on that ultrasound page? think that would be good to share. Kim Ford (17:44) Sure, happy to. Okay, there's a couple ultrasound pages. They wanted to wait until after they went to the doctor and had an ultrasound. This is a machine, an amazing machine that uses sound waves to form pictures on a TV screen so we can see what is in a mama's belly. Some of the information they find out from the ultrasound tells them when the due date will be for the baby to be born, how many babies are in the womb, one or two. We have had two. in one of the pregnancies and if it is a boy or a girl. So, and then the coolest thing about an ultrasound is that you get to watch the baby in the womb as it moves around. Babies kick, do flips and wave. Sometimes they even suck their thumb. So, yeah. Jacob Barr (18:25) Awesome. Yeah, that's good. So one of the main audiences for this podcast would be Prancy Clinic directors and the leadership teams. How might this book help? Or how do you think this book might help, you know, help Prancy Clinic, especially when it comes to clients, women who choose life, you know, have a baby, or maybe they have more than one child. I feel like this book could really help support. women who have chosen life to help them ⁓ share that newfound value and belief or value system with their children. Kim Ford (19:19) Yeah, yes, I did envision it being used in the pregnancy centers. That was one of the reasons I went to the Care Net Conference. That's the main reason I really thought that directors and ultrasound techs and just client services managers could catch a vision for how to use the book. Number one, to help clients, especially those that come in for an ultrasound and they're bringing their children in. At HeartReach, I was able to sit in on lots of ultrasounds as an advocate and many times they would bring their children or they had children already. And so I envisioned it being a gift, know, or way for them if ⁓ pregnancy centers wanted to buy, the publisher has created a bulk ⁓ price, which is wholesale, 50 % off the regular price. and could be used as a resource because as they're reading to their child, maybe the dad is reading to the child while the mom's having an ultrasound. And they are learning all these things too. They may never have heard of what all is actually going on inside the mom's womb in that first trimester or second trimester. And pictured it being used that way, while I was at the conference, I met so many women who had different ideas of how they could use it in their center. Another wanted to use it as a fundraiser. If they bought it at wholesale, they could turn around and sell it for double or triple, really, and make money. And then in turn, ⁓ we are passing along to the newest generation, that next generation, to what pro-life values we have. Once they're reading on their own, you're not going to be sitting beside them ⁓ talking about things necessarily, maybe if you're homeschooling. ⁓ it would be more, they're just going to read it on their own. This is a time when parents or grandparents are sitting and talking with their children as they're reading. So that was another vision I had was for our Christian families and pro-life families to really have a tool where they can teach their children these things. So yeah, so and the Pregnancy Center for sure. ⁓ And then, and also in mentoring, once they have made that decision that they're parenting, I think it does reinforce. If they already have a child, ⁓ there's a lot that covers becoming a big sibling and how to help. your mother, how to understand the change and deal with jealousy that might be there for a preschooler and how they can find their way in their new role as a big brother or big sister. Understanding names and their name and how they got it and the significance of it. I've always found names to be very important. Yeah. Jacob Barr (22:29) I like the part when you when you encourage parents to to share the birth story, you know to their child as they're growing up so they can be excited about what it was like for you know when they you know when when the news was shared about the pregnancy or when they decided when they when they had the you the birthday the first birthday and how people responded and how people know, express their joy and just, you know, the details of that story seems like it's a really good, solid story for someone to then be able to ⁓ treasure and hold onto. And it's a really good foundation for building, yeah, just value for life and these other good things seem like that would, it's really, so what are your thoughts on that life story and the birth story, sorry, being shared and used? Kim Ford (23:26) Yeah, yeah, I do have some thoughts on that. I appreciate you saying that. ⁓ do see where like people might think, it's about your grandchildren. But those are a springboard for me to tell stories that are, they're for everyone, really. They're relevant to every child. And the questions are intended to do that to then make it their own story. for them to learn about their own story. yeah, that was my intent is to use their stories. Cause I really feel like God gave us such unique stories. I didn't finish telling about Silas. So he was born during the earthquake, literally. And it was a big deal here. And his name, Silas, which had been chosen before, but then it was his middle name was Quake, Silas Quake. which is kind of a weird name and some kids don't like having a weird name because somebody else might make fun of it or think it's stupid. ⁓ yeah, I just felt like God allowed that or orchestrated that ⁓ so that then at some point the story of the gospel could be told. He's certainly capable of doing that. I feel like he's in the details. a blog written about God is in the details. I really believe that. So, ⁓ yeah. ⁓ Jacob Barr (24:53) So how many days before his birth was his middle name Quake picked out? Kim Ford (24:59) No, the quake wasn't picked out. yeah, I'm sorry. I miscommunicated. side, the name Silas to go with Paul. So the Paul and Silas that was picked out the quake. Yes. Yes. Yeah. That would have been, yeah. Yeah. Cause when I first heard it after they called, they were down in Kenai, which is about five hours from here. Jacob Barr (25:01) ⁓ okay. Okay, yeah, the quake was fixed after the afterwards because of that. Okay, that makes sense. Kim Ford (25:27) and when he was born and they called and said his name was Silas Quake, I went, really? But now I love it. We call him Q sometimes. Yeah. Jacob Barr (25:36) Yeah. Nice, that's good. So ⁓ through your pro-life journey, what's something that you have learned that may not be commonly known or not commonly adopted or something that you might consider ⁓ you would like to have more people know about that would be helpful to people that are working to rescue lives or working in pranksy clinics? Kim Ford (26:03) Okay, yeah, that I have, I wanna see if I can find this. ⁓ Well, for one, I hope that all pro-life leaders at this point know about APR, the abortion pill reversal. The landscape of abortion has now shifted to very much on the chemical side and they're being mailed. Abortions are mailed now to the patient and they're... administering their own abortions and living through that. And it's very, very painful. But many times, as you probably are aware, and I'm hoping that your ⁓ audience is aware, there's regret sometimes almost immediately after swallowing that pill, that first pill. And it is a series. so APR is using progesterone to counteract that and with the intent of maintaining that pregnancy. And it has been very successful in my opinion. you know, when I was working at the center, I attended at one of the, I think it was the heartbeat conference. ⁓ I just wanted to hear more about it. And so I wasn't a nurse, but I went in because I really wanted to know more about it. And there is a lot of proof that it's effective and it's, ⁓ I looked it up last night just to see what AI and Google would say. And they, They credited it with 66 to 68 % effectiveness, but they really wanted to discount it. I it's very negative at first. You have to dig down to get that info. They say it's unscientific, that it's unproven, it's unsafe. That has not been our experience. One of the things I do now as a volunteer at HeartReach is I ⁓ volunteer one week a month to be on call for any clients that call any time of day for seeking the abortion pill reversal treatment. ⁓ so far, we've been doing it for a few years and so far we've had three women that have gone through it and they've had successful deliveries, healthy babies. We have one about to be born and HeartReach has one client that's about to, in that category, that's about to have their baby. ⁓ So far for us, it's 100%. ⁓ If there's any pro-life leader out there, a pregnancy center executive director who's hesitant about it, I would say keep thinking about it, keep looking into it because ⁓ we were the first center in Alaska to offer APR and we've been servicing the entire state and it's been successful. There's not enough people reaching out about it. There were two others that we had that reached out, but they do an ultrasound first to see if the... Pregnancy is still viable and it was not. And so unfortunately, those children didn't make it. Jacob Barr (29:06) Hmm. Well, thank you for sharing on that. It's, think it's really good to echo that. ⁓ and I just wish, you know, we had, we could have somehow have an impact, a greater impact on awareness that abortion, pill reversal exists to the average person so that, ⁓ it can be sought out or, or thought about sooner, ⁓ based on that window of time after someone has taken the pill where they can then try to change that outcome. Kim Ford (29:36) Yeah, and when I talk to other pro-life people, not necessarily leaders, but just people who I know are pro-life, and I mentioned something about APR, they're like, ⁓ I didn't know. I'm like, really? It's been years now, but yeah, the word is not out there. I don't know why. Jacob Barr (29:37) ⁓ Yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's gotten better, but it still, it still has a ways to go, especially for the general knowledge, the general public. And even then, yeah, some pro-life people, I think most, it seems like most pro-life leaders know about it, but maybe not most pro-life people, or maybe a good portion of pro-life people, but not, it still has room to grow. And then the general public, there's a lot, there's a lot of room to grow or for awareness to be increased. ⁓ Kim Ford (30:15) Right. Yeah. Yeah. And my understanding is that Planned Parenthood, if someone originates their ⁓ abortion through them, that they are not sharing this as an option. So they're supposed to be pro-choice, but they're not giving people that option to reverse it. And it's quite successful. Jacob Barr (30:45) Yeah. Well, one of the questions I wanted to ask you was, would you share a story that pro-life friends or pro-life leaders ⁓ may find encouraging? Kim Ford (30:56) Okay, yeah, I have a fun story ⁓ that comes from the pandemic of all things. There's not many good stories, are there, from that time. But ⁓ during the pandemic, heart reach remained open. We were considered essential services because of providing pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, STI testing and treatment. ⁓ And we provided essential needs like diapers and formula and all those things. clothing for children, ⁓ just anything. We had a wonderful, we still have a wonderful market there. so clients were coming in. Now the one program that I was ⁓ in charge of was the Embracing Parenthood program, which is like the earn while you learn, but it just had its own name. So I don't know that people probably have different names for them. And so that they had been coming in center, but because we had just started Brightcourse, we were able to offer ⁓ over the phone and online type services as well for those parents and to provide that support if they felt like they couldn't come in or if anybody had COVID. I had it seven times. Lots of fun. ⁓ But yeah, we kept serving. Anyway, ⁓ there was a woman that came in who was pregnant and she came in with her elderly mom or she looked elderly to me. She was with a walker and she... She looked older. And they were both getting items out of the market. And I have to confess, I at first was a little, I don't know, I thought, gosh, obviously the older woman doesn't need these items for a young child. I was kind of being judgmental in my head, but I was still nice. And boy, was I humbled because she... We got talking and she shared her story and she already had one small child and she was pregnant again and she had a condition of something that ⁓ was going to make her not able to deliver safely. The doctors just were adamant that she was not going to survive the delivery and they wanted her to abort and she did not make that choice. And so she was resigned that she was going to die in delivery. Jacob Barr (33:11) Hmm Kim Ford (33:19) And I can't remember all the specifics of it, but it was quite serious. And that this elderly mother was going to be the caregiver for these children. And so, of course, my heart did an about face and wanted to give them everything we had. And she told me that the reason that she couldn't deliver safely was because of COVID, she had lost so much. She had lost ⁓ her health care. there was some kind of paperwork problem, administrative problems. She had lost her rental assistance and a number of things. And it was like a free fall. She was just turning, she was already dealing with poverty, but it was at a crisis level. And because HeartReach has such a great referral system, I mean, really makes that a focus of knowing where in our Valley we can go. you know, send our clients to get help that the kind of help we don't provide. We provide a lot of things, but not, you know, rental assistance and certainly not health care. And so I knew of a native corporation that provided ⁓ one on one assistance for anybody. They didn't have to be native. They could go in and they could get their government paperwork straightened out. And I made that phone call. I didn't just give her the number. I said, wait here, I'm going to go make a phone call. And I went and made the phone call, made the connection. They said, send her right over, which we did. And it was afternoon and they still, got her in. And before the end of the day, she had the health care that she needed. They got all her paperwork straightened out. Sometimes they just aren't equipped. You know, they were, it was COVID, everything was shut down. People were working from home. She was not getting through. She gave up. She was just like, I guess this is it. This is my best plan. And I was so glad she came in and so glad that we engaged her in conversation rather than being judgmental. So I guess the moral of the story is I would encourage every pregnancy center to go to those health fairs, go to those social service fairs, make those networking connections ⁓ so that when they... When the client has a need that they don't provide, that they can do a really good handoff to that other agency because it means life or death sometimes. I have other stories like that where a good referral has saved a life, saved a baby's life for sure. Turned college students around that, there's no way I can do this. And when I start saying, okay, there's this kind of childcare, there's this kind of assistance care, ⁓ you know, for Jacob Barr (36:02) Wow. Kim Ford (36:13) all these things and start helping them beyond just, I mean, yes, we definitely want to give them truth and compassion and all those things, but having tangible resources that you know are available makes a huge difference. Jacob Barr (36:30) Wow, that's good. Yeah, that's a great encouragement. ⁓ And yes, it's so important to have good referrals and to have those ready to go for when people need them. ⁓ What other stories would you like to share before we wrap up? Any other thoughts or stories you'd like to share? Kim Ford (36:51) well, I'm not a very good storyteller, so I'll spare everybody that. ⁓ I guess I just, you know, in this new phase where God has taken me out of being an employee at a pregnancy center, ⁓ He still allowed me to be relevant, I guess, through my writing. And ⁓ I am hoping that the series does take off. My husband and I are footing the bill for the whole thing, which is challenging. The first book is kind of an indication of whether or not we will finish the series. yeah, I do really hope that people will see how it can be used. If anybody's questioning, if it's something they would want for $4.99, you can go to amazon.com and buy the Kindle. and just look at it and check it out. There's a soft cover, there's hard cover. Those are great ways to check it out. I'm really, because I believe in it so much and teaching that next generation, I really want to see it through and do the entire series. We just had our banquet for Heartreach, our fall benefit dinner is now the lingo. We had 500 people there. And I was one of the greeters and honestly, the majority were older people. My age or older. Yes, I understand that because we're the ones with more money, you know and the ability to get out and go to something like that but I am really hoping that the younger generations will carry this on, you know that They will they will learn from a young age about the sanctity of human life So that's Jacob Barr (38:52) Would you share a little more about what it's like to have a book that's designed to teach a young child, let's say three to eight, three to eight years old about trimesters, about different stages of pregnancy, essentially, because they're able to understand these concepts. It's not like you have to be in college or high school to understand these concepts. can, what's it like? for to see those light bulbs go off and do essentially, and then would you also speak about the culture of life and how this is building a culture of life? Kim Ford (39:32) Well, I do believe that it could build a culture of life. can help. I believe there's so many parents that are already doing that in their own way. This is a resource for spring boarding for them. But I can read, let me find my Facebook page, my author Facebook page. ⁓ I put on there like asking a few people, would you just tell me how your children or grandchildren responded? I just would like some stories. Hold on, I gotta get there. Jacob Barr (40:02) Take your time. Kim Ford (40:03) yeah, it's Kim Ford author. no, that's my website. Kimford author.com is my website, but, my Facebook page, here I am. And there's you. I rapture coming up first. So where's my post? I probably posted too much. Okay. If you've read the first book in the made for our family children's book series, the big surprise, could you leave a comment or question that your child or grandchild had? or leave me a reaction to the book. And it was in preparation for this. And so I have a couple comments that I'll share. ⁓ One friend who is a grandma texted me. She texted me privately. And she texted me a picture of her cute eight-year-old granddaughter reading. And this is what she said. ⁓ Perfect day to get a new book. She loved it and said, Mima, you should get all of the books. She asked questions, was very interested in the story, shared what she was reading, liked the trimester photos and comparisons to a pumpkin. She was excited to see the family lived in Alaska. Lots of great interactions with her while she was reading it. I had three new books laying in a stack. I showed her all of them and she picked that one. So that was fun. Yeah. And then another friend said, my grandkids loved it. Jacob Barr (41:25) Wow. Kim Ford (41:32) I have a big stack of library books available to them when they come over and they always pick your book first. Hazel is very intrigued by the technical aspects of ultrasound and she also has me read each one of the anticipated upcoming books from the last page. She's requested that I get all of them. I don't think there's much higher price than that. I don't think she means price. ⁓ Jacob Barr (41:56) value or Kim Ford (41:57) much higher praise. I think she means praise. Yeah. Yeah. I think it was a, you know, auto correct. It wasn't correct. and I asked her what the age of her granddaughter was and she said she's five. He's four because she has a grandson too. So four and five interested in ultrasound. Who knew? Jacob Barr (42:00) Praise, praise, yes. Yeah. awesome. Yeah, it seems like, um, you know, lot of parents like to let their, you know, their newborns or young children, you know, have classical music playing because it's, know, it's, just seems like it's really going to help them develop well. And I feel like what you're writing and inviting people to talk about and in a way that's friendly towards someone preschool or, you know, between that ages of three, four or five, all the way up to maybe eight to even maybe an 11, honestly, it's. It feels like it's helping children build up some really good ⁓ core values and principles and understanding. And it even has some medical slash science understanding in a way in which they can relate to it, in a way in which it relates to how their brothers or sisters were born or their mom's pregnancy or their own birth story. It has a lot of connections where it... It brings it in in a way that they can understand it. Kim Ford (43:20) Yeah, yeah. The story of our twin grandsons that were born, that is very different. They were born 10 weeks early and it was emergency C-section and they had many, many health challenges. ⁓ They're doing great now. In fact, they turn five this week. But through that, I was able to teach about preemies and hospital stays and more serious things, but still from a kid's perspective and being sensitive to the fact that they're children and yet the realities of pregnancies that don't go as planned, you know? Yeah. Jacob Barr (44:05) So maybe for those who want to see more content in this space, culture of life building, supporting parents, ⁓ supporting children understanding these messages that support life ⁓ postures or life decisions or life positions, ⁓ maybe they could buy the first book. in order to help encourage you to be able to continue on with the book series. And then maybe they could also post a comment on Facebook or share something to help, you know, to help be a part of this, you know, culture of life being built based on, you know, this book being promoted and essentially as a way to help promote their circle of friends to have exposure to this book. Yeah, that would be wonderful. Kim Ford (44:57) Yeah, that'd be wonderful. Yeah. If they would be willing, I just this morning created an author page on Amazon. Well, I mean, I the author page, but then I created the URL that can share my author page, and it's kind of long. But I don't know if something you can post underneath after this. Jacob Barr (45:19) Sure, if you send that to me, can add it in the show notes. And of course, if someone reaches out to you in some way, you can always give them more information as well. ⁓ Kim Ford (45:22) Yeah. Yeah, I have a website. have a Facebook page. ⁓ On the website, you can be taken directly to the page on Amazon.com to buy it. there's three choices, ⁓ Barnes and Noble, Books a Million. Christian Books has it, but they don't have a picture of it. They just have the title and my name. And I can't get them to add the picture of the book, which I think is something. people would be interested in and a description of what it's about. Jacob Barr (45:59) And I really like the designs or the artwork in your book. Who is behind those designs and art pieces? Kim Ford (46:08) Well, it's a conglomeration of people. the publisher had always had great success in the past with using Fiverr. Have you heard of Fiverr? So they're sort of a liaison between an author and an illustrator. And it did not go well. It was so frustrating. Jacob Barr (46:20) Yeah. Yeah. Kim Ford (46:34) We actually have four different people that have done the artwork for this book. One of them being the publisher herself, she created this cover. She did that herself and she has some good software and she's like a very amazing person. If anybody's thinking of publishing and using a small publisher, I would recommend Relevant Publishing. She's incredible. ⁓ And then she did this one too, which I thought was really good. So we didn't... Jacob Barr (47:01) Wow. Kim Ford (47:03) Give credit to an illustrator. One of your employees that I met at the conference, I can't remember her name. Carleen, I think it was Carleen. ⁓ She told me about an artist that I have been in contact with and I would love to use her because she's fantastic. She's Christian, she has her own, she's an author, illustrator. I like her work very much, but she's 10 times what. Jacob Barr (47:12) Sandy or Carleen? Okay. Kim Ford (47:33) of Fiverr illustrator costs. So we are in communication. I sent her a book. I'm praying about it. I'm like, Lord, I know this is way out of our financial reach. But I mean, he, when I was very first doing this, this was encouraging. There's a young man who comes to our house a lot and he's like in his mid thirties. It's probably, is that your age? How old are you? Jacob Barr (48:00) Oh, I'm 47. Thank you. Kim Ford (48:02) okay. You look so young. ⁓ But he comes off into our house and he's a lineman. ⁓ And he, at that point, I don't know, he just kind of, how do I explain this? He gave a good amount of money to help me because I wanted to go to the conference. And then he made other linemen send me money and they did. And so it was enough. for me to pay for a booth at the conference, which you know how much that is, it's pretty expensive. So that was a big encouragement for somebody to believe in the work that I was doing so much that they would give money, you know? It was pretty incredible. So I know the Lord can do that. I did not ask for that. I was a little embarrassed and like, well, I don't think you should give me money, but you know, it's not for me. It's not like I'm taking a vacation. Jacob Barr (48:49) Wow. Kim Ford (49:00) with it. It's for getting the word out there. Yeah. Jacob Barr (49:02) that's good. That's a good story to share. Yeah, thank you for sharing that. ⁓ Kim Ford (49:07) Yeah, and he at the time, I will say he was not a believer at that time and just this past week after about 20 years of praying for him, he has accepted the Lord and is wanting to be baptized. So I'm pretty excited about. Yeah. Jacob Barr (49:22) Wow. That's amazing. Wow. Amazing in so many ways. Wow. That's great. ⁓ Well, Kim, thank you so much for being on this podcast. you close out our podcast with a prayer? then, yeah, well, and then those who are listening are invited to join in. Kim Ford (49:27) Yeah. Okay. And I did, one thing I didn't say was that, ⁓ or maybe I mentioned it, but only briefly, about wholesale. So if anybody is interested in buying books wholesale for a pregnancy center or a fundraiser or what have you, ⁓ you know, to contact me through email and the publisher will get that ordered. Okay. Jacob Barr (49:52) sure. That sounds, yeah, sounds good. And yeah, it seems like this is just such a good content to help raise up children in a way that they are prepared for what the world has, know, just ready to navigate hard things in elementary school. And what a beautiful time is to reach them before they have to hear. Yeah, the enemy's lies. ⁓ Kim Ford (50:36) Well, that's true because it's a very short distance between elementary and middle school. And it's in middle school where, you know, they're becoming sexually active, not everybody, but, you know, there are kids that are becoming sexually active. ⁓ And this becomes relevant real quick. And so, yeah, that's. Jacob Barr (50:54) Yeah. Yeah, the timing is so good to have some content that takes on this topic in such a beautiful and helpful and just like a really casual, friendly, easy way. But yet it's helpful. And it does it before some of these challenges are going to be in people's lives down the road, especially if they happen to go to a public school or just as being a part of the world or being in the world, I guess you should say. ⁓ And it's just really good that this book is helping someone do it sooner, helping bringing these conversations and providing some education through a children's book sooner. Kim Ford (51:39) Yeah, the culture speaks very loudly. Once the kids get older, we don't have a lot of control over what they hear. So hopefully this will plant in their minds the truth, ⁓ biblical truth and scientific truth about what's going on in... Jacob Barr (51:49) Yeah. Especially when it comes to the pages that have a lot of like, like they're designed for the person reading it to to that four year old or to that young person to have that dialogue. I feel like there's a lot of room there for ⁓ playful discussion in a way that builds up someone's, you know, that child's understanding of children in the womb. Kim Ford (52:20) Yeah, and it gives that platform for the parent to establish a safe conversational approach, you know, that the kid will feel comfortable. We've talked about it before, like when I was reading this book. And so when they have questions, hopefully they'll come back to that parent or grandparent to ask the question rather than appear. Jacob Barr (52:42) Yeah, that's good. Well, thank you, Kim, once again. And yeah, would you close this out in prayer and then we'll let those who are listening, hopefully they'll pray with you and then, yeah. Kim Ford (52:51) Okay. Heavenly Father, I am so grateful for this opportunity to talk to Jacob and to the audience of the Pro-Life podcast team. And Lord, I pray your blessing on all of them and the work that they do. Lord, just ⁓ dedicate the books to you, Lord, whatever you, however you want to use them. I don't want to limit you. And I just pray that whatever means that parents can use and pregnancy centers that they will help the next generation to understand what it means to be pro-life. I pray in Jesus name, amen. Jacob Barr (53:35) Amen. All right, let me hit the stop button.