Della Avila:  

My story is a long one, but I will condense it. I was virtually a nobody in school, a devout hippie that lived on The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Grand Funk Railroad to inspire me. I was and still am an artist, but don't spend as much time in my art as I did then. I was always drawing or painting something. My friends consisted of two very close friends, and a few other friends that I hung out with as well. My closest friend was Jatonne Maner that I knew since third grade, and my other partner in crime was Toni Garrett who I am desperately trying to find. Right after high school I studied with the famous artist Glenna Goodacre for awhile until I decided to go to college. I attended South Plains college in Levelland, TX where I majored in Advertising Art, and Photography. This is where I came out of my shell and no longer was the nobody. I made myself heard!! When I graduated I got a job as a fashion illustrator for Dunlap's Dept. store. I also did courtroom sketching for KAMC TV station here in Lubbock. I became let down with the art world though because nobody told me in high school that you have to wait for someone to die or retire before you can move up the ladder of success. I was too impatient and moved on. For two years I drifted and will only tell that story to ones that I trust. Later I owned and operated my own daycare for 23 years. I loved it, because I could teach them art and I taught preschool. After 23 years though, I felt the desire for a change and went back to school at Wayland Baptist University where I majored in children's ministry. During my first year of school I lost my best friend Jatonne to breast cancer. We had remained extremely close friends all these years. She made me promise to find someone and marry and not to be an old maid. She and I had the worst luck in men! During my second year in Wayland, I met Emil Avila, who would become my husband. He too was a ministry major. He and I were married in 2004 and since have graduated in 2007 from Wayland. He and I have a Prison Ministry called "Breaking Free Prison Ministry" where we work closely with inmates inside and outside of prison. Emil and I are both ordained ministers and both teach and preach inside the prisons. His job is in Air Conditioning and Heating where he owns his own business, and I have had to learn all about that world. My j...Expand for more