Interesting uses for Essential oils

Anyone who uses essential oils has a basic knowledge of their properties. (ie Lavender is healing/disinfecting etc) BUT there are some random benefits of essential oils that you may or may not know. 

Here are few :) 

1. Tangerine: Great for constipation AND diarrhea  
2. Rosewood: Helps prevent colds and flu 
3. Patchouli: Great for travel sickness 
4. Myrrh: Helps to heal scars 
5. Lemongrass: Stimulates milk production in nursing mommies 
6. Calendula: heals diaper rash 
7. St John's Wort: awesome for sunburns 
8. Cedarwood: Works well on dandruff 
9. Grapefuit: Helps with Cellulite 
10. Jasmine: Helps with labor pains 
11. Clove: Repels Moths 
12. Sandalwood: Can help with colic 

Take some time

I was finishing up another classic shopping trip, taking my place in line. 

Among the handful of items I had purchased, were some things to start my seeds indoors. This sparked a very friendly conversation between myself and the older woman ringing up my items.

 

We chatted about different types of gardens, methods, and benefits while she diligently proceeded with checking out my items at a decent and effective pace. 

I was enjoying our exchange until I noticed that the woman behind me began looking impatient, rolling her eyes, and trying to look around for another line to squeeze herself into. She wore her impatience on her sleeve like an accessory, giving myself and the cashier "dirty looks", despite the fact that our conversation was not affecting the cashier doing her job. 

This got me thinking about the fast paced and self oriented society we live in. How many times have I missed the opportunity to encourage someone because I've been "too busy" or too self involved? Sometimes it doesn't require, literally, giving the shirt off your back. Sometimes it just requires a friendly conversation and a word of encouragement, to make someone feel cared for. 

I want to set an example to my children of being a servant to others. I want to teach them to always take the time to care for others. 

If we all took the time each day to encourage even one person, it would be infections and immeasurably beneficial to the well being of  us all. 

Proverbs 16:24

New International Version (NIV)

²⁴ Gracious words are a honeycomb,
    sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

how I feel about guns.

I'm going to do a bad thing. 

I'm going to blog about guns! 

This is bad, because its jumping right into the fire of a very heated controversy. There is a "facebook war" going on about gun control, and considering that I know exactly how I feel on the subject I will often glance over the material, and then "hide" it, because if I left it all up I'd miss all the updates about people's lives and kids (the reason I log onto facebook in the first place) 

My opinion on guns is a simple one. I will go on the record as saying that I believe, with conviction and vigor that our constitution is designed to protect us from our government, and should not be tampered with. After all, the government is simply a series of people elected to make decisions for our country and if we bother to even glance at history we can assume that people are flawed and when given too much power can loose the humility to regard those who granted them said power. 

You cannot legislate morals. More laws and regulations do not make better people. Guns are not the only weapon that kill people, and murder is not the only evil committed against the innocent. The school shooting that took all those young lives make my heart ACHE, but the amount of children abused and abducted each year also makes my heart immeasurably ache. 

I wish we lived in a safer world. I wish evil wasn't the free prize at the bottom human nature. I wish I didn't feel the necessity to have a gun in my home, but what I have taken out of recent events is that evil does not discriminate. It hides everywhere and feeds on any victim that allows it. I cannot bare the idea of not doing everything I can to prevent my children from falling prey to this. 

I pray and have faith that God will protect us each day. I believe that when I drive down the road, God will keep us safe, but what kind of mother would I be if I didn't purchase the proper car seat, buckle my kids is safely, and ensure that the vehicle we're driving has proper air bags. These are items you truly hope and believe that you will never need, but in an accident you thank God that they are there. 

Guns should not be praised! We should not ever relish the idea of using one, and God forbid my children ever have to witness me protecting them by using one against another human being. The thought of it is horrific, but far less so than me and them being helpless while evil is committed against them. I mourn the thought of feeling any sort of motivation to have a gun in my home. If asked, I'm sure that any war hero, would not feel like such for having to take life.We should all grieve over the lack of innocence, purity, and safety that this world has to offer, and pray with whole hearts that, if we do choose to own a gun, we are never forced to use it. 

May the Lord keep you and yours safe!