My New Adventure

Have you ever wrestled with God concerning something you don't want to do, but you know he is telling you to do it?

Yep!  Me too.

Remember the posts last year I wrote about surrendering to God?  I just thought I had surrendered.  He had more.

No, he didn't make me stop eating chocolate.  It isn't that bad. :)

There is a part of my life I rarely, if ever blog about.  It isn't that it is too personal, I just never thought this was the right place to write about it.

I never write about my family's health and how we use essential oils to stay healthy.  But God has taken me in a new direction that sometimes I still don't want to go, but I have to admit it is pretty cool to watch him at work.

Young Living is the company we have always bought our oils from.  For 10 years we have used essential oils from them & even when I thought they were too expensive so I bought a cheaper brand I always went back.

Essential oils are amazing. They are alive.  They are the life blood of the plants they are extracted from and when in our blood stream they have amazing qualities and can do unbelievable things.

Young Living is a MLM company and for some that is a turn off.  I never cared either way.  All I knew is that if I spent $50 a year I could get the products at the wholesale price and that is all I wanted.  Recently the Lord turned it into more.  It isn't about me and my family any more.  It has become about others and helping them learn how they too can be healthier.  Don't worry, I'm not trying to recruit you. (But contact me if you are interested in knowing more)

The Lord told me to make myself available & tell others how I use the oils & leave the rest to him and that is ALL I have done.  The result?  He is using Young Living to help provide for us financially.  I don't think you understand how huge this is for me.  I have attempted to "make money" with other companies many times before and never made a penny.  In fact I usually gave my products away or sold them at my cost.  So, when I decided to do this I never thought it would work.  I argued with the Lord for a few days.  I told him of all the reasons why I can't do this & how it will never work.  All of a sudden I felt like Moses when God told him to go back to his people.  I felt very inadequate & unqualified.

This is more to me than selling oils...because I'm not selling oils...OK, I am, but it doesn't feel like it.  When friends come to me with serious health concerns and they trust me to help them find answers, I take that very seriously.  Who am I to take this on?  The Lord keeps reminding me I am His and He will equip me.  So, I am reading, listening to audio, watching YouTube videos and reading some more educating myself on basic Biology and the amazing benefits of using Essential Oils.

I don't just have a down line after only a few months of working this as a business, but I am getting paid...a lot...in a very short amount of time & I have to tell you that I am totally shocked!  It's totally the Lord doing this because honestly I'm not out there beating down doors & asking people to smell my oils.  He is bringing people to me...and he is bringing people I have never mentioned any of this too.  Totally cool!!

Ok, so why am I telling you this?  Well, I have been trying to be a better blogger & post more regularly but of course I haven't.  So, I am stepping away from the blog for just a little while so I can get my new website set up for the oils.  I have a website; http://joyfuloils4u.com  Please check it out...and you will soon realize why I am calling it a temporary one.  But it still has good info on it.  I have put this off for a long time because frankly I don't have time to do this, but I really need to make time.  The Lord is using this to provide money for us so I need to do my best at using the resources before me.

I am excited to see what the Lord does with this.  I hope you are too.

A Wife Who Enriches Her Husband

My morning was not off to a good start.  I was behind and the day really had not even started yet.  I had a dozen or so things I needed to get done and then I got a text from my husband.

I need you to take my clothes to the cleaners.

One more thing on my list. Ugh!  

And if my attitude wasn’t bad enough I replied to his text.

Don’t worry, I will.  Trying to get kids up.  Need a shower. Gotta get laundry going. Need to get groceries today. Trying to keep Charlie out of the trash…but don’t worry.  Your clothes will get to the cleaners!

Oh yes…I did send that text to my poor husband who had no idea what was coming to him.  All he knew was that his clothes needed to be at the cleaners and he couldn’t take them.  He didn’t know I had a super bad attitude… until he got that text from me.



If I am to be the kind of wife that is described in this scripture, I had a lot of attitude adjusting to do.  It wasn’t my husbands fault I felt overwhelmed that day.  It was mine.
I looked up the word, “enrich”.

Enrich is to make fuller, more meaningful, or more rewarding. (Freedictionary.com)

This is part of my ministry to my husband…to make his life with me meaningful, rewarding and fuller.  When I let my attitude get nasty I am doing the complete opposite. 

I’m not saying I need to ignore my own emotions in order to make my husband’s life wonderful. But, if my emotions are creating reactions ,like my text message, that are rude & unfair then those emotions are not productive. I need to deal with them, not share them or push them onto him.

I love this verse, because it says as his wife I have the potential to greatly enrich his life and that is what I desire. I am learning to keep my own attitude in check.  I’m learning to guard my mouth (& text messages).  I’m learning to remember that my husband doesn’t ask much of me at all and if all he needs is for me to take his clothes to the cleaners then that is my priority that day.

So, what can I do today to greatly enrich his life?

I think that is a great question to ask yourself.  If you aren’t sure, ask your husband.  I bet he will have some idea’s.

The Wandering Child

The text message I received reminded me of what I had tried to forget.  My daughter was still living a life distant from the Lord.

My heart sank as I read the message.  My emotions began to kick in and take over.  I was angry, disappointed, embarrassed and so very sad. I wanted back the days when I could make her stay home and do what she was told, but those days are over.  She is an adult now.  Her choices are hers, which means so are the consequences. But that doesn't ease the pain.

I wanted to yell at her, "What are you doing?".  I wanted to hold her and tell her I still loved her even though her choices were hurting her family.  I wanted all of this to just go away.  I wanted my daughter back.

I had text my daughter, "I will never stop fighting for you". There was no response from her.
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"Lord, what do I do?  There must be something I can do!" And in his quiet, yet powerful way he responds with, "You need to be still and let me fight for you. She belongs to me."

You would think that would give me peace & calm my anxious heart, but it didn't.  I still wanted to fight back. I still wanted to do something.  And God was telling me to be still.

I woke up this morning still sad over the events of the last several days. I was exhausted from the emotional stress of it all.  My prayers felt empty and worthless, but I keep praying.  "Lord, help me to be still. I want to trust you to end all of this in your time."  And this was his gift for me this morning.

What an amazing God we have to care so deeply for each of us.  A God who always leads us in triumph!  A God who always wins!

I'm not feeling very triumphal these days.  I'm feeling more like a failure as a mom because my daughter continues to make dangerous decisions.  But, I am reminded that when I begin to take the blame and shame of what she is doing, I am giving Satan a foothold in this.  He hates it when I rest in my confidence that God is in control.  He hates it when I don't let this bring me down and steal my joy.  He loves it when I am up all night worrying about her and wondering if she is ok.  He loves it when I am so distraught I can't function normally in my day.  I hate that I have given him several small victories lately.

How wonderful is it that in spite of what is going on, we can be confident that we will be triumphant because God is leading us there.

I don't know how long our daughter will wander away from the Lord.  I pray everyday that today is the day she returns.  The only way I can make it through this is knowing that in spite of the heartbreak and anguish I continue to experience, my God is leading me in victory and it will be through my own weaknesses that he will be glorified.  My prayer is that God is glorified through my whole family in all of this, even through my wandering daughter.

This could easily steal my joy!  But, I stand on his promise of victory & choose to live in today and not worry about tomorrow. 

Do you have a wandering child?  How do you pray for your child?  What Scripture has God given you as comfort and strength as you wait for your child to return?

God is faithful and his mercies are new everyday!  Rest in him & pray for your child like you have never prayed before!