Where did you find your answers?

One day in church, I struggled to keep my antsy, runny-nosed girls quiet. Afterward, Barbara, an older woman new to our town, approached me. She sympathized with my struggles and offered to help me with my girls—if I wanted it. I was desperate, so I consented. She began telling me that she worked with the renowned herbalist Dr. Raymond Christopher (now deceased).  I had no idea what an herbalist was, but something inside me whispered, “Listen. Barbara is an answer to your prayers.”

Barbara came the next morning—and the next, and the next. She would teach me about the plants growing in our area, which ones to use, and how to use them. An eager student, I couldn’t learn fast enough. She gave me my first herbal books, and I read them like I was starving. The little health food store in the next town, ten miles away, became my second home. The mountains, meadows, and my own yard transformed into my personal university. Our family thrived as we began incorporating herbs in various ways. Right away we noticed that we hardly got sick anymore.

Soon, without warning, other moms started calling ME for advice at all hours of the day and night. After each call, I would often grab a few items from my cupboard that was filled with bags and jars of this and that and drive to the family in need and spend time teaching the mom and dad how to help themselves and their loved ones. A true teacher, Barbara had not just given me “a fish to eat,” she had taught me “how to fish”—she had shown me the “how to” of her art, which transformed my life. This led me to become a certified Master Herbalist and Certified Iridologist (a professional in the study and theory that one’s irises reflect various aspects of one’s health) and an Internationally Certified Aromatherapist and Instructor.

As the years passed, our family grew to a dad and a mom with nine children. Growing and preparing our own food and collecting our own herbs became our way of life—our “new normal”—and we love helping others do the same!