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Showing posts from April, 2014

Essential Oils for Spring Allergies

When I was eight years old the springtime and I began our love - hate relationship.  I LOVE to be outside but my body would go into full attack mode.  The only way for me to leave my house was to medicate with pharmaceutical drugs.  Until now. Last year when I was struggling with morning sickness my friend Cindy introduced me to doTERRA essential oils.  They have changed our lives.  I know that sounds dramatic.  And really it has been dramatic.  Besides Elie's crazy allergic reaction when we were on vacation last summer, all five of my children have been pharmaceutical free for 14 months.   This is huge for our family. I HATE selling things.  When we were little I would make my sister sell my girl scout cookies because I didn't like asking people for money.  I don't consider being a Wellness Advocate for doTERRA a sales job.  I just love helping people find a way to improve their lives using natural essential oils that God created for our wellness.  And I also lov

hard decisions

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My last post was about the hard question in our home and living alongside that recently have been some hard decisions... medical, housing, job, church, ministry, school.  A season of change for sure and with that come the moments when you have to make the tough call. Thirteen years ago Kevin and I sat across the table from one another at Baja Fresh.  In front of us sat a stack of papers printed from our computer.  On each paper was a picture of a dog available for adoption and a description of what they knew about that dog.  We didn't have any children, but knew we wanted to start a family soon.  So the dog needed to be good with kids.  We also both worked full time.  So the dog needed to be house broken.  We prayed over the papers and asked God to lead us to the right dog.  Our hearts were drawn to a lab-beagle mix named Missy. We took the leap and brought her into our home.  She has been a fabulous dog for our family through all the seasons we have traveled the last 13 yea

hard questions

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I know baby girl has snot crust in this picture but I still love it.  There is so much thought and emotion going on constantly behind those beautiful brown eyes.  She ponders life at a level above her age.  We have wrestled together with some big questions this past year.  She is asking things that I hadn't expected to answer for at least another couple of years.  Each time I pause and pray that God will speak life to her as I open my mouth.  I desperately need His help to answer her questions.  Many times questions that I myself am also wrestling with in my own heart. Today it happened again.  A new question with a heavy answer... "Who was my birth daddy?"  We parent from a philosophy of complete honesty with our children.  When my girls ask a question about their pasts, I answer it with what I know and always remind them of how much I love them. My heart breaks for her losses in this life.  I reminded Faith that God has always been with her from the day she was ma

celebrating 5 years of LIFE

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Today Faith registered for Kindergarten.  There is such a  swirl of emotions in my  heart.  I picked her registration packet up a few weeks ago at the school and my voice cracked just asking for the papers.  The school secretary was surprised at my reaction.  After all, Faith is my fourth and I still have a baby at home.  Now, I hold all my babies close and when they head out the door for school a little piece of my heart goes out with them... every time.  But there is something about Faith.  Something about her story.  Something about all the miracles that made her my daughter.  Something about it that has a lump in my throat and tears that I am fighting to keep inside. It seems a blink since the day I sat on the edge of my seat waiting for them to call her name, the long staircase to her room that felt like an eternity, and the way my heart leaped when my eyes met hers for the first time.  The days pass too fast, especially when a mama has missed the first 14 months of her

the importance of "choosing"

Faith:  Today is not a good day Me:  Well, you can make a choice to turn it into a good day Faith:  I am having a hard time making that choice come out Wisdom from the lips of my four year old daughter.  Life is hard.  There are many times when choosing joy, choosing what is right, choosing to focus on the good, choosing to let things go... it is just hard. But it is key to so much of life and definitely the key to sustaining a marriage.  The first time I saw Kevin I knew I wanted him to be interested in me.  So there was romance from the start.  As we spent time together I knew I wanted to spend time with him always.  So there was also a friendship.  He loved God.  So we had a spiritual connection.  The basics for building a life together were in place.   Over thirteen years later we still have romance and passion and a spiritual connection.  And to the outsider it can seem that it just comes naturally.  I can say this with confidence because over the years I have be