Battle Round: Menthol Cough Drops vs. Thieves Essential Oil

"And from the package comes............Mr. Menthol!!!!  The cough drop who has ingredients one cannot pronounce.  

Froooooooom the other side .........Mr. Thieves!!!  A spicy, strong and aaaaaaaaalll natural essential oil.  

Who will win this battle round?!  Let's watch and see...."

Okay, so I maybe have been watching (a couple too many) episodes of The Voice with my family.   OR.. a week and a half of fussing, sick children has driven this momma a bit loopy!

But either way, I want to let you know how my real life experiment worked out.  So there I was, my throat felt like it was on fire.  And I mean....ON FIRE!  I was sitting on the couch and it must have shown on my face... or by the gallon of cold water I was chugging.  My concerned hubby asked," Why don't you just take a cough drop?"

Me: I haaate how it tastes!  (said in my best, if not a bit whiney, voice :)

Concerned Hubby: "It will make your throat feel better."

Me: "oooooooookay."  *sigh*

So I toughed it out and took a menthol cough drop (Yuck!  Hate that flavor... anybody else?)  And I'll give props to my concerned hubby, the fire in my throat was somewhat quenched for 30 minutes or so.

As my throat reignited with what seemed like another fire- I had an epiphany!

Now might be a good time to try out my own 'Soothing Throat Spray' recipe from:

So within a couple of minutes I had gathered the materials and followed this super simple recipe:

Soothing Throat Spray

- 1 clean glass spray bottle

-8 drops Young Living Thieves essential oil

-water

I put the Thieves oil in the spray bottle first, then filled the rest of the bottle with water.  Put on the cap, give it a shake, and was ready to put out the fire in my throat!  I opened up my mouth, said, "Aaaaah" and sprayed a couple of well directed sprays to the back of my throat and waaaaaaaaalaaa!  Fire quenched!

This time, I had relief for one and half hours!  I sprayed it again after that and I had sweet relief for the rest of the night!

So who is the winner of this battle round??  I'd say we don't even need to vote on it! (Mr.) Thieves oil is the clear, all natural, and budget friendly winner!

 

 

Please remember that I am not trying to treat, diagnose, or prescribe anything.  I'm sharing because I am excited to tell you of my own experiences with Young Living essential oils and how they have worked for our family!

A Manly Post; Essential Oils Aren't Just for Women!

Guest Post: Please join me in welcoming my loving, talented, and supportive husband who wrote this guest blog post today! 

 My wife is a Young Living distributor; so naturally I have learned a few things about essential oils. I'm no missiOILogist, but when something aches, I have a few oils that I can recommend for someone to try. Over the last 6 months, I have seen my wife minister to refugee women using oils and prayer as a means to point them to Jesus. I have been amazed at the knowledge and care she brings to her ministry! As a good husband, I have advocated for her use of oils and supported her in her endeavors when it comes to purchasing new oils, writing blogs, and attending classes. However, I never planned to actually use the oils outside of our home or even in my ministry to men.

That is until last week..

We meet with a wonderful family each week. We all usually crawl around on the floor and play with my one year old son. We eat tasty Middle Eastern food, drink tea, and watch a lot of Arab T.V. But as our relationship has grown they have begun to share their struggles with us. So, when my friend told me that his back had been hurting for a number of years I offered to pray for him; but my wife also reminded me that she had essential oils.

So I reluctantly offered to use them...fully expecting him to refuse; after all, he is a guy and using oils is more for girls right?

[caption id="attachment_144" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Listen up, guys! Oils are for manly men, too![/caption]

Wrong!

 My friend was very excited to try them. So I applied Lavender and Peppermint oil to his back, and applied some heat afterwards. After placing the oils on his back, I prayed in the name of Jesus to heal his back. And to my joyful surprise, God healed his back.

He felt great afterwards!

Praise God!

So here's the point: God is powerful, my friend was healed, and men, oils aren't just for women!

Click here to visit our Young Living website to find out more or to order your own essential oils.

Disclaimer:  Please remember we are not doctors and are just sharing our own experiences with Young Living therapeutic grade essential oils. 

Hey Moms...You Can Reach Out and Make a Difference!

Moms-  do you ever feel like you are unable to 'do' ministry?  Do you feel like you can't possibly add another thing to your busy life which is filled with changing diapers, preparing meals, and cleaning up afterwards?

OR... maybe I should ask... Do you know God can use you to transform communities???  Do you know that you and your family can love your refugee or immigrant neighbor like Jesus and not be afraid of the unknowns of a different culture?  Do you know that it might even be easier to befriend foreign born families if you have young children?

Rewind ........



I felt like I was in a busy phase of life... I had just had a new baby and a 3 year old who loved running around singing "do-do-do-doooooooo.. Batman!"  I was cooking meals, attempting to keep up with the housework, opening our home to our church and our refugee friends a few times a month, supporting my husband in his work. making weekly ministry visits and trying to find ways to diligently teach our eldest son about Jesus' love.

Fast forward less than one year.............



Now I am living in a beautifully diverse neighborhood where daily I am blessed to interact with and love on my neighbors who have immigrated here from countries that are considered closed to the gospel.  I am still struggling to keep the apartment clean, support my husband, disciple our children and run after our little one as he tries to crawl away and get into something he shouldn't!  But God, in His grace, has allowed me to be a part of my neighbors' lives.

I am just so excited about how God is using me- an imperfect stay-at-home mom who has her hands full -  to try to live out the command to 'love your neighbors as yourself'!

I want to encourage all moms out there that YOU CAN participate in the great commission and not have to make a huge life change or pack up and move your family to another country!

I'm praying that God will give us all a passion and grant us courage and love to reach out to those of our neighbors who have never heard the gospel or met a 'real' Christian before.   Moms, let's open up our homes, our hearts, and our lives for the glory of God!  Let's not be content to live with our comfort in mind, but to truly follow Jesus and love the sojourner and the oppressed.  Let's lay aside the weight that easily entangles us and run this earthly race with endurance and purpose!

.....I can't wait to share with you some ideas on how to get started!

How Ocotea Oil Helped Save the Day

.............I might have to give up......

FEELING TERRIBLE

My sweet husband was laying in bed, looking quite pale and miserable.  His hands were shaky and his energy was super low.  He has bouts of hypoglycemia and has problems with low blood sugar.  Normally he would eat a bunch of things with sugar to try to get it under control.  But.... that's not an option during these 30 days of fasting... (well not the 1st option anyway!)

He looked at me and said,"I might have to just give up and eat. "

Have you prayed about it?

"Yes, I'm praying about it."

I prayed also, and we went about our routine for the afternoon.  Then I had a thought..

Do you want to try an essential oil?  I've heard Ocotea is good for blood sugar problems. (Ocotea oil is derived from a type of tree found in Ecuador related to the cinnamon species)

"Sure." he replied.





I went to my Higley Desk Reference and looked up 'hypoglycemia' and 'low blood sugar'.  The main recommendation was to use Thieves oil, but ... I was out!   So I prayed and then got the ocotea-  put a couple of drops in his hand, he rubbed it around 3 times in his palm (to activate the oil), and then applied it to the middle of his left foot.

Why the middle of his left foot???

Great question!  It's the vitaflex point for the pancreas.  (This information is also found in the Higley Reference book)   To be honest.. I don't really know much about the vitaflex points and why the point for the pancreas is on the left foot.. but we went with it!

GOD USED OILS TO SAVE THE DAY!

He still looked miserable........until...about 5-10 minutes later!  God made a way for the oil to work and my husband has been able to continue to fast.  Yay!  I get so excited when God uses the Young Living essential oils to bring healing to our family in different ways.  AND I was super excited that I didn't have to continue the fast by myself...  :)



Disclaimer:  I am not a professional or a doctor- just sharing what has worked with my family using Young Living therapeutic grade oils.  Please consult your doctor for medical advice.

The Anointing Beauty of Frankincense- Part 3

Ok.. so here it is!  After all that waiting... here is how we have been able to use Frankincense to love and minister to our friends who are refugees.



We have already learned that Frankincense is the anointing oil used in the Middle East.  So it was natural that we would choose to use Frankincense to anoint and pray for our friends who come from there.  They are Mandaen, which is a gnostic religion that follows John the Baptist as their messiah. We know very little of their religion, but our friends have shared some information with us. So we were able to add a couple of elements to our prayer service that seemed to mean a lot to them.  (They have a lot of health issues within their family.)

First, we went in search of myrtle.  Apparently this plant is used during important ceremonies to Mandaens.  So we went on an adventure in search of this plant and found it in the Ukranian Village.   (Later we realized that most florists seem to have myrtle :) )  After we got the myrtle we made crowns out of the branches and wrapped them in cloth.

[caption id="attachment_74" align="aligncenter" width="281"] we found it![/caption]

Next we prayed over the oil, that God would use it to bless this family and help minister to their needs.

-fyi...  we had NO idea what we were doing for a healing prayer service.  We prayed that God would help us and that the Spirit would guide us.

[caption id="attachment_75" align="aligncenter" width="300"] making crowns out of myrtle branches[/caption]

So..............  there we were in their clean and cozy apartment, our friends sitting in a semi circle in chairs and my husband leading the service.   He presented the crowns, individually, and they unwrapped their own crown and placed it on their head.  Some of them seemed excited about the crowns and others.. not so much.   Then he read some stories from the Bible, explaining and showing how Jesus is the only one who has the power to heal.  So he explained that we would only be praying in the name of Jesus.

They nodded and seemed eager to start the prayer service.
We asked if it was ok to 'lay on hands' while we prayed and they said yes. (This just means touching the person you are praying for, like on the shoulder or arm.)

I gave my husband the bottle of Frankincense and he proceeded to go around to each person.   He poured out the precious anointing oil (side note: My (sweet) husband was not versed on how to use the oils yet, so he was turning the bottle upside down and putting his finger directly on the white plastic cap.  Don't do this! It could contaminate the oil and is not good if you are sharing the oil with others. So I was squirming in my seat, but biting my tongue, as the prayer service was more important than proper use of the oil bottle. :) ) He anointed each person in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, while making a cross with the oil on their foreheads.

*Frankincense can enhance spiritual experiences according the reference book.  It also can help many different ailments, which is why it makes a great anointing oil. *

Then we each prayed for one person at a time.  We asked for God to heal them, physically, spiritually, and emotionally.  That Jesus would show up and do something miraculous and help them, so they would know His love for them.  (Lest you think it all went perfectly... I was in the background trying to keep our little boys happy, but I was able to participate in the praying!)  Our hearts cried out to God to heal our friends and I think they felt our genuine love for them.  And our friends' hearts cried out to God as they opened their hands in prayer and agreed, with passion,  in their heart language for God's healing.

After the prayer service, they hugged us profusely and thanked us many times.  This action of love for our neighbors touched their hearts.  Then they pulled out some of the items that are important in their religion and taught us about them.  So the prayer service and the Spirit moving did seem to open up something spiritual in them.

Can we report that God has healed them?  No, not to our knowledge.  But more importantly than that, is that God seems to be opening their hearts and their minds to His truths.  We have a wonderful friendship with this family and love them dearly.  God is always working, even if it's not always according to our plans!

Next time you pray for someone, try anointing them with Frankincense oil....... it's biblical!

 

Disclaimer- I am not trying to diagnose, treat, or cure any disease.  Just sharing my own experiences using therapeutic grade essential oil with my family and friends.

Also, we are not showing faces in the pictures out of respect/privacy for our friends and fellow workers.  Thanks for understanding!

The Modern Beauty of Frankincense -Part 2

Hi!  Thanks for coming back to check out part 2 in my series on Frankincense essential oil!

Obligatory Disclaimer- I am not a doctor or professional- I am a mom who enjoys using essential oils for whatever my family and friends need.  Please use your own discernment when using essential oils.  And remember that I am only speaking about therapeutic grade essential oils from Young Living.



So..... we have learned that Frankincense was widely used in biblical times, but how is it used today?

According to my 'Reference Guide for Essential Oils' by Higley:

Common primary uses:

• arthritis


• asthma


• brain injury


• coma


• concussion


• confusion


• coughs


• depression


• skin infection


• inflammation


• laryngitis


• Lou Gehrig's disease


• tumor


• ulcer


• warts


• wrinkles

Wow!  That's quite a list!  Even though frankincense is one of the more expensive oils, it seems well worth having in your arsenal of essential oils.

The scent is rich, deep, warm, balsamic, sweet, with incense-like overtones.  It is also said to increase spiritual awareness and meditation when it is diffused into the air.



Want to try it for yourself?  Visit my Young Living website and become a distributor by purchasing the Everday Oils kit (which includes frankincense)  and continue to receive the wholesale price for oils.  The only 'catch' is that you'll spend $50/year to keep the wholesale pricing.  No requirements to sell or purchase huge quantities of anything. (And you will be supporting our ministry with your  purchases!)  You can also sign up as a customer, but you will be charged the full retail price.

Please check back for Part 3 -  How we have used Frankincense in our Ministry to Refugees - coming soon!

The Ancient Beauty of Frankincense- Part 1

Did you know that Frankincense is found in the Bible?

I mean.. more than just when it was presented to Jesus when he was born??

In fact, it is mentioned 22 times directly and 59 times indirectly for a grand total of 81 times in the Bible!

So.. you ask.. how was it used in the Bible??  I'm glad you asked!

It was used as:

• holy anointing oil


• a cure-all


• used to enhance meditation and elevate spiritual consciousness


• used to anoint the newborn sons of kings and priests (which may be why it was brought to the baby Jesus)

Where in the Bible is it found?

• Exodus 30:34 - Moses, commanded by the Lord, is blending oils and spices to put in the tent of meeting


• Leviticus 2:1 - Israelites bringing a grain offering and pouring frankincense on it- brings a pleasing aroma for the Lord


• Numbers 16:46-50 - used to make atonement for people of Israel when they rebelled against Moses and Aaron


• Song of Solomon 3:6- used to portray an attractive fragrance

Check back for part 2 and 3 of my series on Frankincense! 

• Part 1 - How was it used in the Bible?  (you are reading this one :) )


• Part 2- Practical, everyday uses for Frankincense - coming soon


• Part 3 - How we have used Frankincense in our ministry to refugees - coming soon

* Information for this post was obtained from "Healing Oils of the Bible" written by David Stewart*

 

What's So Great About Essential Oils?

"Well....you can either just wait it out for a few months or go through a painful procedure to get them off"  said the nurse practictioner about my 4 year old son's molluscum bumps on his hand.   Painful procedure for my 4 year old?  I think not!  

 God had graciously given me an Everyday Oils kit through a friend and I was excited to see what these Young Living Oils could do.  After trying a couple of different oils, we found that Frankincense got rid of those bumps (with no pain!) within a week.   Yay for a more natural way to take care of our family's health!   We have other stories to share about how essential oils have helped our family, but maybe that will come later...



"And 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."-Genesis 1:11

In this short sentence God in His infinite wisdom, created plants with all their healing properties and complexities.   And all of this happened even before Adam and Eve were formed!



Young Living therapuetic grade oils are made by distillation of the plant.  They are such a pure quality of oil, that the effects are quite amazing!  (unlike a store bought oil, which most likely is not in the most pure form)

God has been working in my life and He is leading me to help my neighbors and friends as I share these essential oils.  

My prayer is that it will ultimately lead to people praising God for how He can heal and take care of them, and that I will be a vessel through which Jesus shows His love for everyone.

Join me on this adventure and let's see what God will do!