Tribute to Women: Nicole Ford
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photo by shane darby.
“The only place I had to turn was to God, and it truly saved my life.”
Nicole Ford has been the camp ranger at Camp Preston Hunt since December 2023. “This job provides everything our family could ever dream of,” she said. “We have a home out here on 200 acres with all kinds of hiking trails, campsites, a huge pond to fish in. I never thought in a million years my life would look like this.”
Nicole and her husband, B.J., have six children collectively, ranging in age from 4 to 30 years old. Nicole and B.J. are active in First Baptist Church, where they are leaders in the Celebrate Recovery program. This ministry is of the utmost importance to Nicole, who spent nine years in active drug addiction.
“I had a lot of unhealed hurts from my childhood, and I used drugs to numb the pain of it all,” she said. “To numb the pain that my biological mom was never around. To numb the pain of being kidnapped at 6 years old, given drugs, and sexually abused. To numb the pain of losing my grandmother, who was the only one who fought for me to have a life. To numb the pain of just wanting a stable life and family but never getting it. To numb the pain of always feeling like I was a mistake and didn’t belong anywhere. To numb the pain of the mentally and physically abusive relationships I had been in.”
When Nicole entered the criminal legal system and lost custody of her oldest child, Kaden, she hit “the lowest place in my life I have ever been,” she shared. “The only place I had to turn was to God, and it truly saved my life.”
After graduating from the Bowie County Women’s Center in February 2016, she transitioned to living at Haven Homes. “I was there for about six months, and it was such a special season in my life,” she said. “There are so many amazing people who pour into that ministry. I got to experience Christ’s love in a way I never had before. They taught me God’s word and how to apply it to my life. For once in my life, I finally started to believe that I was loved and that I mattered, that my life wasn’t over and that God could help me rebuild it—that’s exactly what He did.”
Nicole and B.J. at the Celebrate Recovery Summit in Lake Forest, California. submitted photo.
Nicole celebrated 10 years of sobriety this past March. For nine of those years, she has served with Celebrate Recovery. “I have poured my heart and soul into this ministry,” she said. “I just want to give back to others what was so freely given to me.” She emphasized that Celebrate Recovery is not just for people wrestling with substance addiction; the majority of people who attend cite mental illness, grief, trauma, and life events like divorce as their primary struggle. “It’s important for us to have a safe place to go where we can talk about these things and build a healthy support system,” she said.
When Nicole isn’t in active communion at FBC, she is probably communing with nature at the campgrounds. “I love what I do out here,” she said. “I get to make this camp beautiful and clean so that it is enjoyable for everyone who visits.
“It makes me very proud when people tell me things like [that the camp has] been completely transformed and just looks a million times better,” she continued. “That makes me feel really good because I work very hard out here. A lot of the work I do people don’t see; I work by myself most of the time, preparing for events, camps, or reservations. There are many amazing things that happen out here, and it just warms my heart to know that I am a part of it.”
FSLM ASKED NICOLE:
What’s something most people don’t know about you? I have a Great Dane, Samson, and he is one of my best friends. He gives the best hugs.
Name a woman you admire. Rochelle Schroeder goes to my church. I am really inspired by her walk with the Lord and her walk as a wife and mom. Her demeanor comes off as so patient, gentle, loving, and kind. She is an amazing mom and so good with kids. Rochelle carries herself so well and is solid in her walk with Christ. Her passion for God’s word and her ability to teach God’s word is incredible. I look up to her a lot.
If you could speak one sentence of wisdom to your past self, what would it be? Jesus is the answer.
HOW JENI ELDRIDGE SEES NICOLE:
“I met Nicole Ford in 2015 while facilitating a Bible study at Bowie County Women’s Center. Nicole had spent almost 12 months at the center at the time we met, and she had come to the reality of her brokenness with no safe place to go after graduation, which was just a few months away. Nicole began to talk to her counselors at the center about entering Haven Homes when she completed her program, and that was agreed upon. Haven gladly opened our doors to her. Nicole has not only come through our program at Haven Homes, but she has also remained a friend whom I have watched grow into a confident woman of God and an incredible wife and mom. She is a leader in our Celebrate Recovery program, and she teaches the Elevate Sunday-school class on Sunday mornings at FBC. Nicole has journeyed through much brokenness and abandonment in her life, and today she helps other women deal with the same issues in their own lives. I am honored to call her my friend and sister in Christ. What a blessing she has been in my life.”