Finding Purpose Early Officer Juan Acosta’s path into law enforcement did not begin in a classroom or a recruiting office. It started in a rough Chicago neighborhood where gangs, drugs, and violence were a daily reality. As a high school student, Acosta took notice of the school resource officers who served as liaisons between students … Read more
Living in Lakeway, Texas, in 2020, my family (Kristen, Izzy, and Samuel) was living in a master-planned suburb northwest of Austin where uniformity prevailed, and genuine community engagement was often limited to individual church groups. We enjoyed weekends out at Lake Travis from time to time, and the schools were known to be really … Read more
For Firefighter Mark Cross, service was not a career decision as much as it was a way of life shaped from childhood. He grew up in Kennedale, a small town on the southern edge of the DFW metroplex, where his parents’ example formed his earliest understanding of what it meant to help others. His father … Read more
For Kendall County Sheriff Al Auxier, the badge has never been about authority. It has always been about service to God, to community, and to the men and women who stand beside him. His journey into law enforcement began nearly forty years ago and continues today, guided by the same principles that first led him … Read more
For Dr. David Wampler, the road to emergency medicine was never a straight one, but it is one he is grateful for every day. Raised in San Antonio, Wampler grew up loving the outdoors and serving others. As a Boy Scout, he developed an early fascination with first aid, lifesaving, and lifeguarding, skills that would … Read more
For Officer David Chavez, law enforcement was never just a job. From his earliest days hunting with his uncles to a family friend in uniform who treated him like a son, the seeds of service were planted early. He first pursued his dream of becoming a Texas Game Warden, serving in that role for 15 … Read more
Ken Nietenhoefer likes to say he’s lived six different lives. He even wrote them down once, in a manuscript he calls My 6 Lives. But listening to him tell it, those chapters don’t sit neatly side by side. They stack on each other, like wood grain running through a beam, all adding up to the … Read more
The most important people in my life are not on billboards or TV. The most important and influential people in my life are not famous. They are not world leaders or politicians. The most important and influential people in my life, I run into and meet every day. They are the ones who are walking … Read more