Health and faith inspire sisters’ new online T-shirt company

Two sisters are convinced that God and good food played central roles in their healing from chronic illnesses, and they’re spreading that message through inspirational T-shirts and their recently launched company, A Litttle Light.

The company’s logo –with its three t’s in Litttle – is a visual reference to Calvary, said Jennifer Adams, who founded A Litttle Light with her sister, Paula Sandin.

In 2006, Sandin, 50, started struggling with a litany of health issues. After failing to find relief through medical treatment and medicine, she turned to her eating habits, eventually adopting a vegan diet. Adams, 47, did the same to address her heart problems, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue.

Both women gained energy and now claim to be in the best health of their lives. Catholic converts with robust faith, they believe God helped them to reclaim health through better nutrition.

Their conviction is at the core of the messages, some drawn from Scripture, printed on the cotton T-shirts sold in their online store: “Change the food, change the world,” “Created in the image of love,” and “Every good and perfect gift is from above.”

The sisters’ story might be summarized in one of their T-shirt slogans: “So we might walk in newness of life,” from Romans 6:4.

Adams, a parishioner of St. Ann in Grantsville, and Sandin, who attends a parish in Montgomery County, said they want to inspire people to advocate for their own health and experience God’s love, and think the two go hand-in-hand.

“I believe that God wanted me to be well,” Sandin said. “I knew there was a better plan for my life than to be sick and lying on the couch.”

“Everything that I learned about health was divine guidance,” she added. “I believe that he (God) led me on the path to changing not only my eating habits but my thinking habits (and) knowing his love. … I feel very compelled to share that with people.”

Adams and Sandin plan to offer inspirational cards through A Litttle Light, and are co-writing a book about their journey from sickness to health. Already, the sisters share daily insights via a devotional blog on A Litttle Light’s website.

The company’s bestsellers are  T-shirts with the company logo, and another with an American flag over the word “Indivisible.” They also sell shirts benefiting Operation R & R, a nonprofit that provides vacations to active-duty service men and women and their families.

They hope to partner with more organizations like Operation R & R, and to connect with parishes and schools that want their names on high-quality shirts. They focus on only positive messages, which they thought were lacking in the current Christian T-shirt market.

They hope the company’s name conveys that upbeat approach.

“Jesus is the light of the world, and we want to spread that light,” Adams said.