Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I want to thank God for giving me the drive and health to follow my dreams. Through all the difficulties I faced I was able to use them as a way to learn, trust and move forward to pursue my desire in helping myself, my family and others lean on Jesus and our natural world that was graciously given to us to heal our mind, bodies and souls.
I want to thank my mom and dad for investing so much love, time and support throughout my entire life. I would not be where I am today without their unwavering support.
I want to thank my children Riley and Taya. They are the reason I push and strive to be the best version of myself and learn as much as I possibly can to bring health and happiness through nature and God to them.
I want to thank my husband Ty Baker for always giving me the confidence to do whatever it is I set my mind to and the constant support he gives me daily. Together we can accomplish anything.
I want to thank Dr. Laura Kokanovich,ND who shared her knowledge, skills, time and friendship with me. She helped me pursue an education in the natural health field and to this day is still the first person I call when I need guidance and support.

A Personal Note
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is his good, pleasing and perfect will. - Romans 12:2   
 
This journey towards my Naturopath Doctor Degree started about 10 years ago when my health was suffering tremendously.
I was weak, passing out, fragile and had a resting heart rate of 130.
I was in and out of doctor’s offices and ambulances just to be left with no answers except to lay down when I felt like I was going to pass out.
The frustration of not knowing what was happening, the lack of medical help and support and knowledge left me in a state of confusion over the medical field.
Not knowing if I would make it to my 30th birthday was terrifying and also very eye opening to say the least.
It wasn’t until 2011 though that I realized my new journey in life was just beginning.
I was laying on the couch with my little girl when I had an unwavering feeling that if I did not get off the couch and do something about my health I wouldn’t be here much longer.
In that very moment I felt the presence of Jesus as if He was sitting on the couch with me. Hugging me and my daughter. I realized that I can not continue down this road of not knowing what was going to happen and living in fear of what could happen.
After spending a few minutes in the presence of Jesus, I got up and decided to fight. Fight for my health and for my life. I had no other choice. I was basically abandoned by the medical community. I went over to my computer and did a search for Naturopath Doctors in my area. I found Dr. Laura Kokanovich and called her immediately. Praise God, she answered the phone. Not a secretary, not a front office assistant but she did. We talked for about thirty minutes and I scheduled my appointment with her.
My first appointment we immediately started detoxing heavy metals and changing my diet.
I started to have small improvements daily, it was working.
I knew I had a long road ahead of me but I had hope for the first time in what felt like forever.
Each and every time I went to see her, we made adjustments and I kept improving.
I was blessed to get to know Jesus during this time.
It took about five years to heal myself naturally and leaning on Jesus to heal me but this is why I chose this path of natural health.
Fast forward to when I gave birth to my youngest, Taya. Her name means “perfectly formed” and she is. She is beautiful.
Right from the start she had some trouble in the hospital. The first couple days of life her entire body was as red as a strawberry. I was trying breastfeed her and give her the absolute best by breast feeding and giving her colostrum which is available through breastmilk right afterwards but she continued to struggle with feeding.
After a few days we were released from the hospital and we headed home.
She was visibly upset and uncomfortable more times than not.
She began having these “episodes” that would cause her head to drop and her arms to raise to the sides, her knees would tuck up in front of her, then she would burst out crying afterwards.
My heart ached for her like any mothers would.
Her pediatrician scheduled us for an EEG and ultrasound to see if she was suffering from Infantile Spasms.
Her hour-long EEG didn’t show anything but she also didn’t have an episode while on the monitor. Her ultrasound came back normal.
Afterwards her pediatrician scheduled us to meet with a pediatric neurologist.  
I was in a position of having to take her to a neurologist that I knew would put her on brain numbing medications or trust in God, prayer and natural medicine.
After a lot of prayer and reaching out to my naturopath doctors for help we decided to try and heal her gut and treat her naturally.
We had a feeling that her gut was toxic.
Was it her microbiome?
Was it the breast implants I had?
Was it lack of probiotics?
Was it a bacterium or a virus? Was it a bacterium or a virus in my chest wall affecting my breast milk?
Truth is, it was probably all of the above.
We immediately took her off the breast and gave her goats milk and supplemented with a probiotic. We also supported her kidneys to be sure her filtration system could work properly.
I removed my toxic breast implants.
After we made these changes and a lot of prayer, she stopped having these “episodes”
Praise God- The Almighty healer that we were able to help her by removing toxins, rebuilding and supporting her natural systems she is now episode free.
This project is not just a step towards my Naturopathic Doctors Degree but also a way of sharing with others the gut and brain link, the power of a healthy diet and its powerful connection.
The gut and brain connection are one of the most miraculous body system connections that continues to be on the forefront of research. It might possibly be the most important connection to physical and psychological healing. What if we could heal depression, anxiety and even seizures by improving the gut?
The human body is a miraculous machine.  Each organ supports the other.  It is imperative to understand the body as a whole working system instead of in fragments or individual pieces.
This is exactly what we are exploring and my hope is that the readers and my clients will understand the powerful relationship between the gut and brain and understand that the body functions work perfectly together just as God intended.