Throughout 2014 I spent some time becoming an advocate for many things. Better health, more time in God’s Word, supporting organizations that greatly give back in some way or provide work for oppressed women. Some of these organizations I supported before the year started, but many of those were actually the reason I was able to discover more. While this post has been a long time coming, I’ve finally managed to put a small list together for you to browse. If this proves to be useful, I plan on adding more in the future – (but not always quite so serious.  😉 )

I’ve categorized them below. Please take some time to explore them and feel free to shoot me any questions you might via my email over in the corner.

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Beyond Fair Trade…

Three Story Coffee: Right here in my hometown of Jefferson City, Missouri has some of the best roasted coffee. Ever. Made! While I’m a tea drinker at heart (and yes, they sell tea, as well) I am thoroughly impressed with the quality of their coffee. But it’s not just the reputation of good coffee that drew me into their store. It was the cause behind how it got here in the first place. Follow me over to their little spot on the web to learn all about how the owners of Three Story are impacting lives all over the world… They will gladly ship any of their coffees – but if you’d prefer for them to grind it in-house, just be sure to tell them how you like to prepare it so they can get that perfect grind for you.

Fair Trade Friday: I can’t say enough about Fair Trade Friday. A program that was born in the hands of Kristen Welch, of We Are THAT Family blog and Mercy House Kenya, Fair Trade Friday is a unique way of sampling crafts from artisans all over the world on a monthly basis. It’s brilliant!

Just be sure to research the beautiful story behind every item. And remember, 100% of the proceeds goes “to the empowerment of impoverished women as an avenue to introduce them to the Gospel.” Yep – you read that correctly. 100%!

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Upping My Game in the Mornings…

She Reads Truth daily Bible plans. I have to admit that, for someone who struggles with adrenal fatigue as the result of an autoimmune disorder, I do not rise early on a good note. It takes me some time to come around…unless it’s after 8:00 on a Saturday. (4 kids, people…if I get to sleep in until 8 a.m. it is nothing. short of. a miracle). Yet, despite all of that, I’ve found that if I can wake up slowly at 5 a.m. to this, well…I’ll take that any day.

She Reads Truth is a great way to get your daily dose of scripture, devotion and community, all in one spot. And don’t forget to visit the shop while you’re there…

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Fashion with a Cause…

Grace and Lace: I have a secret. I’ve always wanted to be one of those women who could wear cute boots with fashionable leg warmers or boot socks and just look adorable. Ok, who doesn’t?

Unfortunately I have calves the size of a Sumo wrestler.

But it wasn’t until I stumbled upon Grace and Lace company and Melissa’s amazing story that I decided to just bite the bullet and get some of these cute leg warmers and boot socks, Sumo calves and all! Stop by and check out their line – but don’t forget to read how the success of their company has catapulted Melissa’s family into providing orphanages in India by partnering with Angel House.

BeadforLife:  If you want to see a small sampling of BeadforLife products and live in the area, be sure to visit Three Story Coffee (mentioned above), as they are a distributor. While I knew about BeadforLife some time ago, it was Three Story that really turned me on to their products. Not only does BfL support the artisans who create shea products and beautifully hand-made jewelry, in an astounding array of colors I might add, but their impact is phenomenal. Take some time to get acquainted with their work and review their annual report to see them in action. Oh yes! And don’t forget their fabulous product line!

The Root Collective: I stumbled upon The Root Collective one day as I wandered the back streets of Instagram. Literally. I clicked on a link to a user that lead to another interesting link to a company that lead to The Root Collective. (This is secretly why I love Instagram so much. It’s the Wikipedia of social media and you can clickity-click-click your way down into the depths of…who knows where.)

But I digress…

The Root Collective has some ah-maz-ing ballet style flats that you simply can’t find anywhere else. And the story behind how they’re made and what their efforts support are enough to have me sold! Check out their entire product line of shoes, jewelry, bags and scarves here.

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Better Health…

Gaia Herbs: The journey to autoimmune remission began 364 days ago. That’s right. Tomorrow will be an entire year of learning to live life differently than I ever had before. A changed diet, yoga, massage, and several supplements from the Gaia Herb line, have proven to put me in a state of health that rivals much earlier years. While I’m not out of the water yet, and full healing could take quite some time, I am now able to fight through common illness without script after script of antibiotic. After the birth of my third child I experienced the following in four, short years:  21 sinus infection, 3 rounds of bronchitis, 2 rounds of strep throat, pneumonia, and influenza A.

Needless to say, no wife or mother can function under these conditions. It was time to make a huge change!

Gaia Herbs have helped me climb the rungs a bit faster than I would have with the change in diet alone. If you’re looking for a boost in your immune system during the winter months I can highly recommend Immuno-Hep supplement.  Oh, and there’s an entire kids line, too! More on that later…

Young Living Oils: Another adventure toward better health has been the introduction of essential oils into our lives. Don’t get me wrong, miracle drugs do not appeal to me. (Especially those pertaining to weight loss), but Young Living has proven to do some down right awesome things for our family. Tummy issues, sleep issues, night time cough, cuts and scrapes, antibacterial – you name it, I’ve seen them work and I’m sold.

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Well, I hope you enjoyed my list! I look forward to sharing more of my favorite things as the year goes on. Again, if you have questions on anything I mentioned above, don’t hesitate to shoot me an email.

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Linking up today with the lovely Crystal Stine for Friday Favorites. Join us over at her place…