Gifts with Impact - Photos that bring life to children

Between now and Christmas week I plan to highlight businesses that will certainly put your gift giving dollars to good use! Remember – the goal here is philanthropic giving with a twist – supporting a worthy cause through purchasing a lovely treasure.

We all know, on some level, that there are kids out there who are desperate for the stability and love their biological parents are not able to provide. In America alone there are hundreds of thousands of kids just waiting for a forever family.

This post features a family that not only is aware of the problem, they firmly believe that God's plan is to use them to impart His love into the hearts of kids.


I came across this wonderful woman's blog about a year ago - just as they were getting their home ready for their youngest boy, and her writing immediately captured me. As a blended family mom I found myself relating to some of the "bonding" struggles Courtney was so honest in addressing, as a yankee also living in the Southland (and married into a very Southern family) I loved her posts about the North, culture shock and missing home. 


Without further ado:

Meet the Rockstars:

What a great couple!

Courtney & her husband will soon be the proud parents of 11 kids. While they have successfully adopted 4 children, they have also invested thousands of dollars in adoptions that – for reasons beyond their control – fell through, their money irrecoverable. They have given their hearts to kids that they won't be able to hold or love in person, they have sacrificed plenty and they still keep giving!

10 delightful Rockstar Treasures

Courtney is a proud stay-at-home mom and a homeschool teacher. Her husband – whom she refers to as “the rockstar” - works very hard to support their family and spends his off hours snuggling, reading to and otherwise pouring into their awesome family.  

Courtney is also an outstanding photographer with a very unique eye. You can find her work on Etsy.com @ http://www.etsy.com/shop/Wifetotherockstar

From note cards to framed photographic art – the items in her etsy shop are a worthy offering and by purchasing from her you are contributing to the life of their family

Courtney is also an articulate, funny and painfully honest blogger. You can read more about Courtney & the Rockstar family @ www.storinguptreasures.com

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Gifts with Impact - Jewelery that Sets modern slaves FREE

I'm starting a new blogging category for people like me.

I am, by nature a gift giver. The gifts I enjoy giving most are the ones that have lasting impact and meaning – however I also like to put my gift giving dollars to work whenever possible.

Call it… philanthropic giving with a twist, because NOT ONLY does it bless the gift recipient, it also supports an amazing gift item or service provider.

When you want to say it with jewelry, Nightlight designs couldn’t be a better choice! Not only are their designs unique and gorgeous, they also minister to sexually exploited women and children  in Thailand – a major hub for the sex slave industry.

Read what they have to say about themselves:

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” Isaiah 9:2

NightLight is an international organization committed to addressing the complex issues surrounding trafficking and prostitution by catalyzing individual and community transformation. NightLight’s vision is to offer intervention to sexually exploited women and children, to enable them to discover their dignity, and to provide a program of holistic transformation, empowering them to live and work in their community.

NightLight’s mission is to build relationships and provide hope, intervention, rescue and assistance to women and children exploited in the sex industry by offering alternative employment, vocational opportunities, life-skills training and physical, emotional and spiritual development to women seeking freedom. NightLight builds support networks internationally to intervene and assist women, men and children whose lives are negatively impacted by the sex industry.

Through NightLight Design, women are making beautiful jewelry from silver, semi-precious stones, pearls and decorative beads.

NightLight Design provides an economic alternative for women who previously had no hope of freedom from their circumstances. When you purchase these products you are securing the freedom of women who have been exploited or were at risk of exploitation in the bars of Bangkok, Thailand.

Women working at NightLight Design:

-Function as managers and designers

-Learn skills in accounting, quality control, inventory and marketing

-Receive medical benefits, a savings plan and annual salary increases based on performance

-Participate in classes offering English and life skills training

NightLight employees are given the opportunity to receive scholarships for continuing education. Their children are born into a safe haven where the risk of exploitation and abuse is greatly reduced.

Every piece of jewelry you purchase provides direct support for one of the artisans. You are helping to break the cycle of abuse by making a lasting difference in a woman’s life, giving her dignity and a meaningful way of supporting herself and her family.

 If you only purchase one piece of jewelry this Christmas season please consider purchasing something from this amazing ministry!

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