Starting Super-Duper September off with a bang today, friends! Carey e-mailed me last week and totally made my day. Our e-mail conversation was fast and furious with lots of CAPITAL LETTERS and exclamation points (!!!!) and “Me too! Me too!”

Basically, we were separated at birth (if you know me at all, you’ll see why), but I can go into all that another time.

Carey is an ambassador for Noonday Collection (she had me at, “Jen Hatmaker mentioned us in 7.”), and their stuff is AWESOME. Unique, gorgeous, affordable, and made by my favorite kind of artisans–talented women around the globe with a burning desire to provide for their families and leave poverty behind.

Let’s chat with Carey and then talk about what you can WIN.

Me: Tell us a little bit about yourself (and your fam).

Carey: My name is Carey & I’ve been married to Danny for 11 years. We have 3 kids. Karis is 8, Jack is 5 and Zoe is 2. I’m entering my 3rd year as a homeschooling mama. We live in Columbia, Tennessee, but spent 3 years in Louisville, Kentucky, going to seminary in preparation for going on the mission field. The biggest disappointment of my life is when those doors closed. Currently, I’m serving as the women’s ministry leader at my church, teaching my kiddos & trying to share Noonday with as many people as possible.

Me: Tell us more about Noonday and how you got involved with it.

Carey: Noonday was founded by Jessica as a way to raise money for the adoption of her son, Jack, from Rwanda in 2010. It quickly grew from there & now we have 50+ ambassadors & we’re able to support artisans all over. One thing Jessica said she learned was that entrepreneurship was sustainable and aid was not. We want to create pathways out of poverty, not just a temporary fix. Noonday also gives toward orphan care & prevention. My journey with Noonday is still pretty new. I heard about it this spring & thought it was a neat company & that I’d love to order something sometime. Then I heard more about it. Then there was that still, small voice telling me to boldly go for it. I thought the voice was crazy. Direct sales were not my thing {I’m not known for my extroverted ways. But – at the beginning of the year I really felt like God was telling me that I needed to learn to be bold & not walk in fear this year.} So I went for it & here I am. Jessica also said that at her first trunk show, “it was like I discovered a dream I never knew I possessed.” That’s how I feel. Noonday provides me with an amazing platform to advocate for the poor, the widowed & the orphans. Being obedient to God, even when I thought he was asking crazy things, has blessed me & changed me more than I ever imagined.

Me: You know this thing is SO up my alley. What do you love most about it?

Carey: Like I said earlier, the biggest disappointment of my life was when the doors to foreign missions closed. I’ve never wanted to do anything but be a missionary {in fact, I’m still praying that closure is temporary & not permanent.} When my first samples came in, I stayed up after everyone was is bed & was sorting through everything and trying to become more familiar with everything. I decided to sort it all by country & then I looked around at all the countries represented & was overwhelmed with God’s goodness. There were more than 10 countries represented & my only thought was, “If you had gone on the mission field, you wouldn’t have had the opportunity to change women’s lives from this many countries.” Then I sat in my kitchen & wept. There are not enough words for me to tell you how much I hate, HATE crying but I was just so overwhelmed with God’s lovingkindness to me then. So, that’s my very long-winded way of saying that the thing I love most is the opportunity I have every  single day to change the lives of artisans all over the world.

Me: What are some ways others could jump aboard this Noonday train?

Carey: Go online & order something. Every purchase helps. Host a trunk show. Our fall line releases today! As a hostess, you have the opportunity to earn some free things while you help raise our artisans out of poverty. Noonday has a huge heart for adoption – that’s how we started. If you or someone you know is adopting, host an adoption trunk show. As long as the adoption is not complete & there is a completed home study, Noonday will write a check to your adoption agency. {in lieu of a free product voucher} Spread the word! Tell others about Noonday! The more people that know about us, the more people that buy our products, the more lives we have the opportunity to change. Another favorite moment: One of Ugandan artisans said, “Because of you, I don’t have to decide which of my children gets to go to school. Now they all can.” Wear our story, tell their story!

Me: Anything else you’d like to add?

Carey: Well, I’d like to encourage your readers to read Half the Sky & When Helping Hurts. Noonday has a pinterest board filled with good books. Check it out. On a personal level: I’m still praying that God will send us overseas eventually. In the meantime, I’m trying to teach my children to have a heart for the things God has a heart for. I’d love to eventually take a trip with Noonday & meet some of our artisans. Until then, I’m praying that God will use me to bring awareness to the cause & effect change in the lives of those around me & in the lives of our artisans.

Thanks so much, Carey. So excited to hear more from you and Noonday!!

And Ohio friends, Carey said she’d road trip to my house for a trunk show this fall! You’re ALL invited!!

And now, for today’s GIVE-AWAY!

One lucky winner will get a $25 gift card to Noonday Collection!! (sooooo jealous! just kidding! Carey is sending me THIS as we speak!) There are tons of great items under $25 (so, FREE!), or you can use it toward something more expensive.

(Okay, friends. We’re trying something new for Super-Duper September. It’s called Rafflecopter, and it’s a cool way for you to get more entries-to-win by doing easy stuff. It’s pretty self-explanatory, but give me a holler in the comments if you have questions or get stuck.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway