I said NO a dozen times before I said YES.
A bottle of unopened lavender sat in my nightstand drawer, a birthday gift from nearly 9 months earlier. My dearest and most trusted friends had already embraced the oily lifestyle and still I stood firm. Because I’m stubborn. And skeptical. And I wasn’t looking forward to an inevitable eye roll when I handed my husband Peppermint essential oil during his next migraine.
It wasn’t until several months after delivering our third baby that I twisted open my bottle of lavender. Three kids was no joke and I was tired. I started simple—a few drops behind my ears and on my wrists at bedtime. I quickly found myself looking forward to this nightly routine and even sneaking a few drops on my boys pillows and rubbing it into the soles of their feet after they had fallen asleep. It wasn’t long before I had gone through my single bottle of lavender and found myself eager to try new oils. I had already noticed a calming shift in our evening routine after introducing only ONE oil—and now I wanted more!
My birthday was coming up again so I decided to treat myself to the Young Living Premium Starter Kit—best bang for your buck and best introduction to a variety of products without feeling too overwhelmed. My package arrived and I immediately dove in. That night I casually diffused lavender & frankincense in our room as we went to bed. Ben turned to me and I braced for his eye roll. I was blown away when I heard him say “whatever this is, I’m into it”. Then he rolled over and fell fast asleep. Since then, not a night has gone by that we haven’t fallen asleep to one of our favorite oil blends (diffusing Stress Away and Peppermint as I type).
Now, I never leave the house without a pouch filled with my favorite oils and blends. As a family, we’ve embraced oils for ouchies and sniffles, sore muscles and headaches, stresses and overwhelm. The boys look forward to evening oil-infused foot rubs and love having diffusers going in their rooms. Oils have become one of my first lines of defense when something starts to feel heavy.
Have oils become a cure-all for our woes?
Of course not.
But they have certainly made our heaviness lighter.
Because…
Life is beautiful.
Children are a joy.
Relationships are enriching.
Connection is powerful.
God is good.
But also…
Life is heavy.
Hardship is heavy.
Financial stress is heavy.
Emotional burdens are heavy.
Parenting is heavy.
Through years of trial and error and many lessons learned the hard way, Ben and I have learned to open our arms and our hearts to people and opportunities that make our lives lighter in positive, healthy ways.
Our personal circumstances, our story is our own. But I also believe that our meltdowns and milestones in life resemble those of so many others. We connect through these shared experiences of trial, endurance and perseverance. We’ve shared many of the same trenches, climbed many of the same peaks, and fallen to our knees during many of the same deep valleys.
Ben and I have traveled down certain paths, that upon prayer and careful consideration, did not ultimately fall in line with the needs, hopes and passions of our family. So we’ve stepped off those roads. And that’s okay, because that’s life. That’s growth. And also, because we’ve taken the lessons we’ve learned, the relationships we’ve built and the tools we’ve gathered on this journey to carve new paths, to create new opportunities better suited for the soul of our family.
My soul is in this.
I’m excited and grateful to be part of a community dedicated to cultivating abundance in the lives of it’s members–abundance in health, wellness, joy, stability, compassion, and love–a community with an endless support system of people truly vested in my personal growth and wellness.
It would be an honor to link arms with you in this journey!
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