Displaying items by tag: Best of Heartbeat 2026

by Kathy Jerman, Director of Affiliate Services

In the pregnancy help movement, the needs never stop.

The phones keep ringing. The clients keep coming. The emails keep piling up. And for many of us, the weight of leadership, limited resources, and the spiritual intensity of this work can quietly drain our reserves. We pour out every day. But even those who are called must be filled.

As we approach our Annual Conference in Cincinnati at the end of the month, I want to gently encourage you to view this gathering not simply as professional development, but as soul care.

Rest Is Not a Luxury - It’s a Necessity

In pregnancy help ministry, stepping away can feel indulgent or even irresponsible. There is always more to do. But the truth is, you cannot sustainably lead from depletion. Time away is stewardship of your calling.

When you take a few days to step out of the daily demands of your center, you give yourself space to breathe deeply, listen more clearly to the Lord, reanchor your heart in God’s calling, and be reminded that you are not alone.

Nourishing Your Spirit

One of the most beautiful aspects of our time together in Cincinnati will be the intentional opportunities to encounter the Lord. Conference is not just workshops and strategy sessions. It includes:

• Dedicated worship time where we can collectively lay our burdens at His feet
• The opportunity for personal prayer with someone who will intercede specifically for you
• Morning Mass
• Quiet moments in between sessions, where the Spirit often speaks most clearly
  

Investing in Yourself as a Leader

Professional development is not self-promotion. It is wise leadership. Strong organizations are led by growing leaders.

Our workshops and keynote sessions are designed to sharpen your skills, expand your thinking, and strengthen your effectiveness. Whether it’s leadership development, board governance, client care, fundraising strategy, or medical advancements, you will walk away with practical tools you can implement immediately.

But beyond information, conference offers something even more powerful: perspective. When you gather with hundreds of leaders who understand the unique challenges of pregnancy help ministry, you discover you are part of something bigger: a united movement that is stronger together than any one center could ever be alone.

If You Aren’t Attending Conference

If you’re unable to join us in person or virtually, you can still nourish your soul intentionally. Nourishment is not location-dependent. It is intention-dependent. Here are intentional ways you can still rest, grow, and refill.

• Schedule a personal mini retreat to reflect and pray. Block it on your calendar. Protect that time. Go somewhere quiet, like a park or a coffee shop, with your journal. Leave your laptop closed. Silence notifications.
• Ask a trusted friend, pastor, or colleague to pray over you specifically as you serve in your center. We spend so much time interceding for others. Being prayed for is humbling and healing.
• Create your own learning track. Professional growth doesn’t only happen at events. Choose one area this month where you want to grow. Then commit to reading a book on the topic, listening to a podcast or a webinar, or ask someone to mentor you.
• Reconnect with worship. Attend a weekday service. Begin your next team meeting with an extended time of prayer. Protect one true day of rest each week.
• Build a community around you. Schedule a virtual meeting with another director. Start a monthly prayer call with nearby centers. Text someone in the movement and ask how they’re really doing. Pray with them and encourage them. We are better together!
  

Come Be Filled

If you are joining us in Cincinnati, come expectant.

Expect the Lord to meet you.
Expect meaningful conversations.
Expect renewed vision.
Expect laughter.
Expect rest for your weary soul.

If you’re not joining us, be just as intentional at home. Block the time. Ask for prayer. Learn something new. Worship deeply. Rest boldly.

Return Ready to Jump Back In

Whether in a conference convention center or in your own quiet space, the goal is the same: to return refreshed and ready to jump back in with fresh energy, deeper faith, and renewed passion for the sacred work we’ve been called to do. 

You deserve time to rest and learn. More importantly, the sacred mission you lead deserves a spiritually grounded, continually growing leader.

Let’s commit to nourishing our souls so we can continue serving with courage, compassion, and conviction.

by Andrea Trudden, Vice President of Communications and Marketing

Last year, Option Line surpassed 2 million connections with men and women facing pregnancy decisions. That is five times the number of connections from the year before and the highest annual total in the program’s history.

It is an incredible milestone worth celebrating.

But the real story is not the number. The real story is what the number represents: women reaching out for help at all hours of the day and night… and finding someone there.

Roughly 40 percent of those 2 million connections happen outside typical business hours, where we could just hand them off immediately to local pregnancy help.

They happened late at night, early in the morning, on weekends, on holidays, and in moments of panic, pressure, and urgency. These are the hours when most brick-and-mortar pregnancy help organizations are closed. And these are often the exact moments when a woman is searching online, looking for answers, and deciding what to do next.

Option Line exists for this reason.

We ensure that when a woman searches for help at 1:00 a.m., she does not find silence. She can find a calm voice, accurate information, and a direct path to real, local support.

When she wants to talk to someone directly, we answer the call. If she wants to find her own information, our center locator guides her to the services she needs and, when possible, allows her to schedule an appointment with her local pregnancy help organization. 

Option Line is intentionally built to work with the pregnancy help movement, not around it.

Almost all of these connections result in a referral to, or an appointment with, the local pregnancy help organization for the services you offer in her town.

For many women, the first compassionate conversation they have happens with Option Line in the middle of the night. The next step in that journey is walking through the doors of a pregnancy help center.

In this way, Option Line becomes an extension of your organization after hours. We give pregnancy help centers a 24/7 presence even when the lights are off and the doors are closed.

Behind every connection is a woman who is actively looking for help in real time.

She may be facing pressure from a partner. She may be scared and alone in a dorm room. She may be a mother unsure how she will care for another child.

What she needs in that moment is not a voicemail. She needs a person.

Option Line consultants and Option Line Plus nurses provide a listening ear, health education, and clear next steps, often guiding women toward local pregnancy help organizations where they can receive hands-on care.

Fear turns into clarity. Isolation turns into connection. A late-night search turns into an in-person appointment.

Why This Matters for the Movement

This record year is evidence of two things happening at the same time:

1. The need for pregnancy help is increasing.
2. Women are actively looking for life-affirming support at all hours.

And because Option Line exists, they are finding the help they need.

This is a story pregnancy help organizations can share with supporters. It shows that pregnancy help is not limited to a building with only office hours. It is a coordinated, always-available network of care ready whenever a woman reaches out.

As this need continues to grow, many pregnancy help organizations are beginning to think more intentionally about how they can be present for women beyond their open hours.

More affiliates are exploring ways to offer after-hours telecare or dedicated hotlines so that when a woman connects with Option Line overnight, there is an even more seamless bridge into their local support, expediting speed to service.

It is a natural next step in strengthening continuity of care and ensuring that no woman ever feels like she has to wait for help.

Reaching 2 million connections is a powerful achievement. But what matters most is this: At every hour of the day and night, women are reaching out. And together, the pregnancy help movement is there to answer.

That is something worth celebrating.