Emotions and Essential Oils: 2 Minute Tip

Greetings!
I hope you all had a great Christmas! Here is the next tip, focusing on using oils to support our moods and Emotional Health. Enjoy, and comment below or contact me with any questions!

Winter Wellness....

Hi Friends! I am excited to say that my little oil group now has users in 16 states! I am so thankful for all of you, and want to give you the best support possible, no matter where you are! SO, I am launching a 2 minute video tip series! Im still getting used to being in front of a camera, but i feel like this might be the most personal way that I can offer you tips and support, so bear with me. :) My number one passion and goal is to be SURE that you know how to use these amazing oils you have in your home! Let me know what you think, and what has been working for you! Love and wellness to you all!

Rage Against the Machines

It started with Facebook. 

I kept seeing people walk away from it. After reading my friend’s messages, posts and blogs giving many good reasons, I decided it was my time as well. 

Time. yeah. I just waste so much time on it.

And it got me thinking. It’s not just facebook.  It’s my phone, the internet, my computer, the tv, our iPads and iPods and All THE HANDY LITTLE MACHINES. 

How do I want my kids to remember me? 

Ignoring them while I anxiously look for signs of life on social media, or play a game on my phone? Or how about getting irritated with them for "interrupting" my text conversations that could have happened later, because that is what texting is for? Yikes.

So, I am going on a crash diet for the rest of the month. I plan to malnourish the mindless addiction that is growing out of control in my house. Im not planning on swearing it off. I just need some time. And then I'll see how I feel.... maybe I will swear it off.

I may blog about it?

If I do, it will be mostly for accountability, and will fall within the guidelines below. 

Here is the plan.

Anything Television: Make it a tool for quality time- not a time waster or babysitter. I don’t usually watch until after bedtime to help make laundry more interesting, but the kids do watch a lot during the day/after school. Not this month. If they watch it, I have to sit down with them.  And I wont be able to have any of the below distractions…..

Social Media: Gone. Im going to have my husband change my FB password, he will give it to me at the end of the month. I don’t do instagram or twitter, but if I did, I would do the same. Pinterest is the only exception, because I (personally) use it as a tool rather than an outlet. However, to keep it from becoming that, time is limited to 5 minutes and a project or recipe must result.

Video Games: Gone. If you want to play a game, it has to be in person with at least one other family member.

Old Skool.

Internet: To be used for business and information only, i.e. Weather, banking, bills, blogging, emails, notes or Online shopping should be done in predetermined time segments, when children aren’t present (napping, at school, in bed).  

Phones: To be used as PHONES. Limit conversations to 20 minutes. For me, this means shut up and listen to your friends. J

Texting: To be used only for relaying information, not conversations. If you want to have a conversation, pick up the phone. But not for more than 20 min. J

So in summary… 

The only media I will be consuming this month will be to snuggle up with my kids to watch a movie, maybe watch an episode of Downton Abby or Bones after bedtime as I fold laundry, and to stay accountable in very short post-bedtime entries on this blog, if. I. so. choose.  My computer/internet can only be used for 20min at a time, when children aren't present. 

And.... Go. Or should I say STOP?

love, B

Santa

On Saturday, Nov 30, 2013, we told the kids the truth about Santa. We told them we were the ones who filled their stockings and left surprises for them on Christmas morning. We told them everything.

And you know what?  I have never been more in the Christmas spirit than now. Im lighter. Im not stressed. There’s no more deception… and no more worrying about whether they will care more about Santa than Jesus. Because up until now, those two were both immortal, generous, miraculous guys. They were both off in some distant land, watching us, hearing our prayers. But one of them brought toys, and the other one? Nevermind the fact that (I’m thinking) Saint Nicholas would be devastated to think that his acts of generosity would someday overshadow the savior he was trying to emulate. Even when we would tell our kids that Christmas was about LOVE and FAMILY and JESUS, they nodded yes and said, “soooo…. when do we set the cookies out for Santa?”  This had eaten at me for so long, but I couldn’t figure out how to fix it. Then I read a blog that finally put into words… well, all of it. As Jen Hatmaker says in "The Christmas Conundrum": 

“For a five-year-old, how can Jesus compete with Santa?”

So, we told them who Saint Nicholas was, and why he did what he did, and that we will continue to celebrate his actions because he did it for GOD. (translation: this is NOT a boycott!) BUT, he died, and he waits for Jesus just like we do. Jesus is the only one who has conquered death, and that is the gift he offers us. Saint Nicholas got that, and he received it, and he acted accordingly. Do we? 

I was afraid my kids would be devastated… that Christmas would now be a dull and boring holiday to them…that they would take it to the extreme and say “THERE IS NO SANTA! I WILL DIE NOW. But their response? My son asked me to make him a santa suit. My daughter dresses up as an elf and they pretend they are running the toy shop. They talk about giving toys to the poor. They dutifully kept the “secret” from their friends even though they really wanted to talk to someone about it, because they understood it could upset their friends.  They even said, with beaming faces, that keeping that secret was easier than they thought. And maybe now when they think of Santa, they think of giving instead of getting…. Maybe they will think of the reason we are compelled to give, responding to the most amazing gift ever...just like Saint Nicholas did.  Santa is still a part of our Christmas, but he has been put in his place- where I'm pretty sure the original Santa would insist on being. Joy is spreading in our home.  And I think….I may have needed this even more than they did? Because for the first time in years, I’m so ready for Christmas.

                                                                              "Santa Man"

Cash Gift for Baby!

Well, I said in my last post this blog would be a combination of ponderings and projects.  Last week you got a pondering, so here is the project!  Hope it gives you some fun ideas!

My Motivation: 

A few months ago, I had to present a cash gift.  Our Worship Pastor and his wife had just adopted a sweet little girl from China, and we took up a collection for them to cover costs rather than throw a big shower. Our goal was to raise enough to cover their deductible for upcoming surgeries for her, and we ended up raising almost double that! What to do? Hmmmm.....

When I graduated from college, my aunt taped a bunch of bills together and had me pull them out of my card; resulting in a long string of green for me to thrill over.  I liked that idea, but what could I put it in?  A Kleenex box was all I could think of.... I went to my hall closet to get one, and some old baby wipe containers I had stashed away caught my eye.  PERFECT!  The brain started churning....

The Result:

  At the presentation, we handed them a gift bag with a card saying something along the lines of 

"here is something to help WIPE away those new baby worries" 

and they pulled this out of the bag....

 (I just fancied it up a bit with some scrapbook paper and ribbon- took an extra 20 minutes at most)

There was a little sign I added once they opened it that said "Pull" (I know, wicked creative)

Surprise!  

And it kept going, and going, and going..... 

At the end, we attached a note that explained how much we loved them and all that sappy stuff.  It was a great mixture of fun, shock, sentiment.... no one had to make a big speech, but it was waaaay more exciting than just handing them a check or an envelope full of cash- especially because the bills got larger as the chain got longer and their jaws kept dropping...  :)
So there it is!  Let me know if you have any ideas on variations!

How this Confessional works....

 "Confessions of a 31 Wannabe" is inspired by the "Wife of Noble Character" described in Proverbs 31.  This is certainly not an original concept, as there are countless sites out there that use this superwoman as a model, but I just couldn't help it. 
My "confessions" will chronicle my journey to not only manage my home in a "31" manner, but to also live my life and parent inspired by the Proverbs as a whole. All of this will be in two categories. 

Projects: Share things I'm doing around the house to simplify, efficientify, (totally made that up) andsustainify (made that up too) so 1. I will be more sane 2. my children will someday call me blessed (and hopefully fewer of the not so blessed names they will likely call me along the way) and 3. my husby will be all respected at the City gate.  If he ever finds it and decides to stand around there long enough for all that. Whiiiiich he probably wont.  I wonder if the water cooler counts? ( see Prov 31:23 & 28)

Ponderings: sharing my unsolicited thoughts on verses and related situations.  Because I can. Hopefully they will be worth reading. :)
Much love,
BD

The Eve of the Sabbath

Confession number one: Its been nagging at me.
To start blogging has been on my mind constantly, so I finally gave in.  Not because I think I have anything new to offer anyone, but because I want it to stop nagging me.  I hope it works.
I decided to bite the blog bullet on the eve of my second "day of rest" sabbath.  My first one was two weeks ago, spontaneously inspired by my friend who is reading the book "Weird" by Craig Groeschel. (I haven't read it yet, but she likes it, so until I get to it, I'm benefiting by association) Since it was so last minute, the house was a hot mess when we went to bed on saturday night.  It drove me crazy at first; resting while there were dishes in the sink, clothes piled on the floor of the laundry room and countless projects screaming to be finished, but by the end of the day I had released them all, knowing I could hit them full force on Monday.
And you know, I think it did something.  I am consistently inconsistent about keeping the house clean. Not in an outwardly way, but that "dirty little secret" way.  Like my dust mop might need to be dusted before I can use it. Spring cleaning isn't supposed to happen EVERY spring, right? And for the love of all that is sacred and beautiful, please don't go in the master bathroom!   But in the last couple of weeks I've notice a couple of little, but hopeful changes..... I've gone to bed with the kitchen counter cleared off more than before.  My laundry isn't quite so backed up.  My dishes don't sit for an embarrassing amount of time. And tonight, on the brink of my second experimental sabbath, my house is clean, ready to chill with us.  Its not perfect, but tomorrow there will be fewer projects and chores to scream at me. I feel great about what I have gotten done this past week. And, I have a feeling that tomorrow's relaxation will empower me to get even more done next week.... I cant wait to see.