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Where do I begin?

How do I say this?

I have begun the dive into the world of essential oils. Actually, I began around the time Anderson was born but I had NO IDEA what I was dealing with. My aunt, Joy, sent me an email after she had heard about the trauma that was Anderson's birth & my painful & long recovery. It was this blog post. I couldn't believe what I was reading. How did I not know this?!

That is how I was introduced into the world of EO's.

I am honestly so overwhelmed but I MUST share this with you...

So, I cloth diaper. You probably know that. Well, coconut oil is great for using daily with cloth diapers to prevent diaper rash. 

I also cook. EVOO is great for having in the kitchen for all sorts of recipes. Duh.

And while coconut oil & EVOO are NOT essential oils, they pair with them as carrier oils. These are two items your probably already have in your home!

I acquired some lavender from the health food store and would use it on my wool dryer balls {I know, I'm becoming a total hippie, but I don't even care. Actually, I kind of LOVE it. Shhh, don't tell anyone}. I even used it with some white vinegar & water to clean some second-hand wooden blocks I bought for Anderson at Kid's Market.

I then got some peppermint oil from Pepper Place Farmer's Market one Saturday & it kind of rocked my world. Anytime I had a headache or stomach ache I would apply it topically. And it totally helped.

I then purchased frankincense & bergamot for back pain at some point but I wasn't certain whether it helped or not. I even got eucalyptus for simmering in a pot of water on the stove to help with colds & sinus infections. I wasn't sure if it helped but it seemed to.

All of these things I discovered just by the power of google. And these oils were just purchased from the health food store meaning they are not food grade or high quality at all!

Naturally when I saw one of my facebook friends {Kelli} talking about these wonderful high quality, food grade oils she had discovered I was intrigued. I messaged her asking if there was an oil to help with teething. 

Ha! Little did I know that there is an oil FOR EVERYTHING!!! Of course there is one for teething. She recommended Thieves.  And then she told me that I could become a member of Young Living and purchase all the oils I would need at the wholesale rate. 

I was hooked. Sort of... A month or two later she posted about a Live event where people would talk about some different oils, do demonstrations and whatnot. It was free and I definitely wanted to go! I took my neighbor, Jackie, with me and we heard some REALLY interesting testimonials. 

We discussed their validity. Could they really be true? Hmmm...

Kelli had also added me to a facebook group on EO's. I'm already in a Cloth Diaper (CD) group, Breastfeeding (BF'ing) group & a Mommy Trading group (this is not some freak group where you trade children only children's items ;-) ). What the heck was one more group?

I read some but mostly ignored the posts. But at the Live event I ordered my Everyday Living kit & I couldn't wait for it to arrive. I began reading all of the posts in the facebook group trying to absorb as much practical information as possible. 

***Let's take a break***

Now let's back up...I have always had a sensitive stomach. I remember having painful heartburn as a child, getting nauseas while out to eat, I had a serious acid reflux problem in college & unbelievable heartburn during pregnancy. I've always had stomach issues but over the past several months they had seemed to worsen.

I won't go into details because they're embarrassing* & unnecessary but I found myself in the GI doctor's waiting room with a lot of people at least 3x my age...

I'm not kidding.

I went back, talked to the Dr., took a couple of easy tests, had a lot of blood drawn & was sent home & told to wait for lab results. I was nervous. 

Side Note: Don't google your symptoms, people. It can never be good.

The next afternoon the Dr. called saying all of my lab results were normal. What a praise! But also not very helpful. I didn't know what to do from there because my symptoms were still around and he told me to come back in if they kept up.

How long was I supposed to wait?! And I certainly didn't want to seem like a hypochondriac...What was I supposed to do?!

***Back to my kit arriving***

I had been reading in the facebook group that people were ingesting peppermint & lemon twice a day to help with weight loss and digestive troubles. I decided I would give it a shot.

My reasoning was that these were natural plants and if I needed help with digestion, weight loss or weight gain, etc. they would know what to do.

I began taking them. Everyday, twice a day, I filled a vegetable capsule with 2 drops of peppermint & 2 drops of lemon & the rest of the capsule with EVOO.

I didn't suddenly feel like a new person. I didn't all of a sudden have some major change. But I also didn't feel sick. Some of my symptoms began to subside. I was able to eat full meals without getting sick. I noticed a gradual change in my body...

Then, last week I slacked off. I hadn't taken my oils for a few days and I began getting sick after meals, wondering what was going on. I started to feel the way I had the month before. And it hit me. These oils aren't some fluke...

These oils are from plants that God created with his words...

 "And God said, 'Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.' And it was so.The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good."

Genesis 1:11-12 ESV

There's so much more that I want to share and I will. I am so grateful for what the Lord is doing in my life physically. I'm so grateful for the way He is using Young Living in SO MANY people's lives. I just can't wait to share more with you!

 Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man's dwelling,
    but a foolish man devours it.

Proverbs 21:20 ESV

Riding Along

Anderson loves the Cozy Coupe. Anytime we are at someone's house who has a Cozy Coupe he beelines for it. I've been wanting to get him one & have been watching the facebook trading sites for any that come up for sale. But they go really quickly and I'm really slow about checking.

Yesterday my sis & BIL stopped by & told us to come outside because they had something for Anderson... You guessed it, it was a Cozy Coupe! He was SO EXCITED! 

He hopped right in, closed that little door & got to moving. But here's the thing; they found the Cozy Coupe...in a dumpster...so it was nasty. Like seriously, caked in dirt with a whole spider kingdom taking up residency in the under carriage. 

But other than the dirt & spiders it was in great shape!

So, this morning I pulled out the hose and my big jug of white vinegar and a couple of towels. 30 minutes & some elbow grease later we had a great looking Cozy Coupe to play with.

While I was basically pressure washing the thing the Lord brought to mind how even this was a picture of the gospel and so I began explaining it to Anderson. 

"Just like Mommy is cleaning off the old, yucky dirt from this car, Jesus cleans off our sins. When we're saved some things change immediately just like the dirt on the seat is coming right off."

I then flipped it over to find where the Chronicles of Spiderwick was being lived out. 

"And some things take a while to change. And usually the deeper Jesus goes, the harder sins stick kind of like these spiders." -- {seriously, they weren't going anywhere despite my finger-at-the-top-of-the-hose pressure spray!}

"This process is called sanctification."

The whole while he babbled back to me so I'm trusting Jesus is doing a work in his little heart already ;-)

So, we finished up the cleaning process and had a pretty good-looking Cozy Coupe! I wish I had taken a before picture but alas, I'm not a good blogger and never see a bloggable moment while I'm in it.

And as he was riding all around the driveway I noticed the filthy rags and was reminded of Isaiah 64:6 -- All of us have become like one who is unclean,
    and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
    and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

And I was humbled and grateful that that is not where the story ends...

 

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. -- Isaiah 61:10

Simple Joys: Part 2

I've decided that in the evenings, after supper, is my favorite time of day. Andrew is home from work, Anderson has {hopefully} napped, we're full from supper and just happy to be together. 

Due to the very nice, warm weather Anderson wants to constantly be outside & so that's where we usually are. I love the way the sunlight looks as it's fading into night & I love watching my husband play with our sweet son. These are sweet moments that I want to remember always...

The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him. -- Prov. 23:24

Book Reviews

We have read a lot of good books recently & I wanted to share them with you.

Our small group went through The Hole in Our Holiness by Kevin DeYoung and it was wonderful. It was about obedience as Christians and what that looks like, but not just what it looks like on the outside but what it looks like on the "inside". Obedience to Christ is more than just doing all the right things, it's having a heart after God's own heart that lends to true obedience. It was so challenging and encouraging. I highly recommend this book!

Our small group is now going through Sally Lloyd-Jones' Jesus Storybook Bible. This is an absolutely wonderful book. It is a children's storybook Bible with beautiful illustrations by Jago. What I love most about this book is how she weaves the gospel into every Bible story. We are currently reading the Old Testament "classics" and Lloyd-Jones does an excellent job of always reminding us how this story points to Jesus & what he would do for us on the cross. It's great to read the stories with Anderson and it's been so beneficial to study them in depth with our small group.

The next book on the list is on parenting. Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp. This book was recommended to me by our small group leaders as well as my aunt, Joy. It has been so enlightening for me to read & to be reminded that the ultimate goal in parenting is to point our children to Christ so that they can "glorify God and enjoy him forever"*. What an overwhelming yet humbling and amazing task! There's so much responsibility yet so much grace in parenting. Tripp does a great job of laying a Biblical foundation for roles/goals/ideas in parenting in the first part of his book. He also provides lots of scripture to "back up" his ideas. The second part of his book is the practical application of it all. He answers the questions of "When do I begin spanking?" "What age/stage does discipline begin?" and so forth. I really enjoyed his straightforward style.

On my "To Read" list are:

Managers of Their Homes by Steve & Teri Maxwell
Sparkly Green Earrings by Melanie Shankle
Loving the Little Years by Rachel Jankovic

If you're interested in other books, articles or blog posts that I've enjoyed take a look at my "Words" pinterest board! I hope you will find something helpful or relevant there as well.

I'm currently on the hunt for a good fiction book. I don't want it to be too heavy in theme but I also want it to hold my attention (which is always being pulled in multiple directions with a toddler!). So, what do you suggest?

*Question 1 from the Westminster Shorter Catechism

Little Memories of Simple Joys

I love the little, sweet moments of life. Don't we all? Sometimes I'm most overwhelmed {in the best possible way} in those moments. Moments like this morning when we went to the grocery store at 8:30. 

I like going early because not many people are there and all of the workers are fresh for the new day ahead. This morning when we went my Anderman still had his jammies on & was rockin' his bed head. He's a morning person & enjoys waving at every person we pass. They enjoy it too.

This morning as we were wrapping up our grocery trip the nice lady at the customer service desk asked if he wanted a balloon. He had already seen two other children with balloons & was "asking" for them. I told her yes, he would love that. I picked the bright green one & he signed "please". I handed it to him & asked him to sign "thank you" back to me. He was too excited about that bright green balloon. But I did get a little chuckle when the nice lady asked me if he was deaf & if that is why we were signing.

As we walked out the door the wind was blowing and Anderman was wrestling that bright green balloon to keep it as close as possible. I loved that moment of just watching him take joy in something so simple.