As a former teacher, I can speak for all educators when I say that teachers work hard for your children, so one of the biggest backpack essentials is teacher gifts!
I can also say that when teachers feel appreciated and cared for after pouring their hearts out to your children, it is refreshing.
This post is full of toxin-free gifts any teacher would be thankful to receive!
(If you haven’t gotten your 24% discount on all oils and oil-infused products, click here: Young Living Starter Kit)
Whether researching the life blood of plants, sitting with a new Premium Starter Kit , or at old pro status, these essential oil hacks can make life much easier!
These essential oil hacks help with the basics of the toxin-free transition.
Get more bang for your buck making rollerballs with the use of rollerbottles!
Let’s dig into some of my favorite recipes!
I wondered if I would ever take advantage of the Essential Rewards program until I realized with Young Living I could save a ton!
(If you haven’t gotten your start to a toxin-free lifestyle yet, click here: Young Living Starter Kit )
After the second month using oils and learning there’s literally an oil to support everything, my husband and I took a look at my ever-growing list of products, oils, and oil blends and knew we needed Essential Rewards.
Why?
My budget-watching husband disagreed. No, Andrea. You cannot trade food and shelter for oils.
$50 per month. Now, THAT we can do!
I’m budgeting oils into our life AND you’re giving me some of the money back to use like cash on other oils on my list? UM…OKAY!
And you’re going to send me a free oil at 3,6,9, and 12 months? Alrighty!
And you’ll offer me more free product up to over $200 retail value each month on promotional items? Yesss….
And you’ll discount certain products, like our beloved Ningxia Red, in exclusive ER bundles? Ah!
Our family has been given thousands and thousands of dollars worth of free product!
We’ve got one squeaky, toxin-free homestead over here, y’all, and we didn’t even have to pay for all of it!
I love free things just as much as the next momma bear. But I love this even more. Our boys, including one spunky cancer survivor, are only breathing in and wearing goodness!
You can choose Essential Rewards.
The Wholesale Discount Premium Starter Kit with 12 oils, a diffuser, and a 24% discount will pop up, and you simply click the loyalty box.
Add in the Essential Rewards, and you’re looking at 49% back in your pocket just for making your home full of the most trusted non-toxic products on the planet, and save tons!
“Give yourself a year’s worth of a lot of grace.â€
I heard these words come out of my best friend’s mouth about me leaving my job of the last 11 years to be a stay-at-home-mom.
In my head it didn’t make sense. I’d have all the time in the world. Literally.
I was in for a rude awakening.
All those things other people chipped in to help with when I was teaching like laundry, vacuuming, dishes, childcare, errands became my new time crunch.
And on top of it, because I was a stay-at-home-mom, I felt the need to jump into the PTO, take on a new business to help out with finances, and pitch in more with our non-profit.
On its own, motherhood within the home is a huge job, but add in all those extra features to it, and here I am feeling confused and lost like a fish out of water.
No schedule. No “This happens now†and “That happens then.â€
Just time.
And stuff.
And in that “stuff,†no matter what it is, it is so easy to get distracted and land in this place of confusion and disappointment.
The kids aren’t getting enough of my attention. I didn’t make that call. I missed that appointment. The house isn’t clean as it should be. The laundry isn’t caught up. The blog hasn’t been written lately. I haven’t worked out in months. I’m behind on Bible study. I. Am. Such. A. Failure.
I am floundering, it’s true, but I’ve got one thing that keeps lifting me up.Â
Jesus.
I’m not wandering aimlessly.
Best of all, I have a purpose and a calling.
I can lean on Him as hard and as often as I need to.
Lord, what have You put in front of me today?
This pile of laundry? A game of Sorry with my four-year-old? A random blog post You put on my heart in the middle of loading the dishwasher?
Then I consider it joy.
Because it is so unbelievably easy to see it as being scattered or lost or even failing.
But all I needed was a little perspective and a big reality check, that came in the form of advice from another wonderful friend.
Reality: Satan saw an opportunity to chip away at my heart, and I let him.
Satan says:
BUT. JESUS.
Grace says:
I don’t have to worry.
I’m no longer a slave to fear.
For I am a child of a graceful, loving, peaceful God.
Amen.
There’s just something about a DIY wooden headboard that makes the entire space of a master bedroom look cozy. Complete. Put together.
The only problem we had was choosing one that fit our style.
Oh, and that didn’t cost a fortune.
Thankfully, an idea came to mind after seeing some Pinspiration and watching some home renovation shows.
There was hope!
When I showed my husband what I wanted to create, he was on board.
Here are some of my Pinspirations:
I wanted something simple. Something that spanned the width of our bed but wouldn’t need any real upkeep. Something that would fit the space but would also fit changes in decor.
We decided this DIY wooden headboard was the answer. I’ve provided directions in case you’d like to make your own!
Directions:
1) Measure bed and choose desired size of headboard. It was quite the discussion. This is seriously why I love Pinterest. The fact that I can look at how the finished product could be is huge for me. I’m not exactly a conceptualizing kind of girl.
2) Gather materials and tools:
 We like to test a small piece of the wood we’re going to use and let it dry while we’re building to see if what we’ve chosen is what we want to commit to for the entire project.3) Lay out and measure your planks. We have a King-sized bed, so we measured its width and decided we would like about two inches on either side of the mattress to have the headboard go past it. Painter’s tape has been our friend in many times like these. We like to map it out on the wall and stand back from it to get a better idea of how it will look in our room. Pinterest is helpful, but every space is different. It’s better to be safe than sorry in this case!
4) Cut boards to length with circular saw.
5) Use three 2×4’s to mount the headboards to (these will go vertically so the headboards will be horizontal). Here’s how this should look:
6) Screw them together – make sure the screws you use are not too long and poke through the front but that they also go in far enough to hold everything together.
7) Sand, stain/paint finished boards.
8) Mount to the wall using Interlocking Flush Mount brackets
Our final product! We added this little sign
This is the link to our duvet. We found the denim pillows at Home Goods and the “love” pillow at Target.
Every time my husband makes something for our home like this DIY wooden headboard, I do know that he really does enjoy the craftsmanship in woodworking. However, I also know that a big part of what gets us through is that agape love.
I’m not easy to please with my Pinterest dreams and specific ideas, but he hangs in there with me and listens. He reads directions (sometimes not great ones) and works out the problems we encounter even though it can be frustrating. He gives me grace when I dream a little too big for the space and he loves me when what I want stretches him a little thin.
Thankful for this man and for our cozy little space in this fixer upper of ours.
Pride: a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements, of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.
Why would anyone want to get rid of a pleasurable feeling?
It’s crazy.
Ludicrous.
Necessary.
Every time we get a sense of pride-of true unabashed pride-we are really saying one thing: “Look what I did.”
My son can speak at three months: look what our boy can do.
I spend two-and-a-half years getting my Masters degree: look what I finally accomplished. Look at how my hard work has paid off.
My husband makes a sale that affords us renovation: All of those long, hard days and sacrifices our family has made while my husband worked so hard is blessing us.
The 8th graders in my class create amazing projects: Look what my students did after a long quarter of perseverance.
All of these things, they’re good things, but pride isn’t the feeling we should associate with it because pride is a lie.
Deceitful.
Wrong.
We have been taught to believe pride. To relish it. To find our joy in it.
And frankly, no one likes to hear that something they like is a sin.
But it is.
If you read further down into the synonyms part of the definition, you’ll read the following:
Pride is a lofty and often arrogant assumption of superiority in some respect: Pride must have a fall.
Must have a fall.
Then why in the world do we tell our children, “I’m proud of you” or our husband upon that bonus check, “Babe! I’m so proud of you!” or to others, “I’m proud that I stuck with that degree, it’s really paying off”?
Because we’ve been taught to.
Child of God, when looking within ourselves, we must remember that we are living in this world, but we are not of this world.
Whether we particularly like it or not, we are set apart. Living in exile.
Which is why what I’m sharing today is most likely not sitting well with my readers.
How do we undo this prideful thinking?
We must trade in old feelings for new.
It sounds impossible, but it can be done.
How?
We must change our view on how the achievement was made.
All things. Not some things. All.
And if this is our truth, if this is what we claim to believe, then we cannot ever take complete credit for accomplishments because that would be a lie. That would be prideful.
And pride, we know, must come with a fall.
1.) Grateful
2.) Thankful
3.) Praise
Instead of “I’m so proud of…” say, “I’m so grateful that…” or “I’m so thankful that…” or “I praise God for…”
CHANGE THIS:
“I’m proud of myself for sticking with that tough course load and making it to graduation. That was so tough!”
TO THIS:
“I’m so thankful God helped me through that course. That was so tough!”
CHANGE THIS:
“Babe! I’m so proud of you!”
TO THIS:
“Thank God you were able to earn this bonus. I’m so thankful!”
CHANGE THIS:
“I’m so proud of you, son!”
TO THIS:
“I’m really thankful God helped you through this test. I know you studied hard for it.”
It really is a switch in how we think about the end result of our hard work, but we must speak truths, especially to our children.
We are the only way they will know who’s truly at work within them allowing them the strength, courage, and perseverance to complete tasks.
Today, instead of falling from pride, we’ll fall to our knees and pray, “God, thank you!”
We will use the words with our children, “I’m so thankful God was with you through that assignment,” or “Thank you, God for my child. Thank you for his courage. His heart. And that I get to be his momma.”
We will still feel joy, excitement, and happiness, but we will turn our hearts toward giving credit where credit is due.
While only God can change a heart, we do play a very specific role in how our children’s hearts are shaped. We play an active part in our own salvation and heart changes, too.
Because we know God wants our hearts, we know we have to make ours right and raise up the next generation to understand the driving force behind their life, too.
Thank you, Lord for being with me as I wrote this piece. I pray You are in my reader’s hearts so they can become closer to You through this post. I love you! Amen!
What would it be like, I wondered from as far back as I can remember, to be the mommy?
How I hoped I could be like my own mother.
In response to sickness and the Ohio weather shifting from mid 70s to upper 30s overnight, we present to you some indoor fun…
**drumroll please**
When we remodeled our living room, I knew tackling this super-long wall was going to take some extra love and a whole lot of patience. It didn’t disappoint.
I’d been looking into galleries for a while, but nothing I saw matched what I wanted exactly. Finally, after a long time of frustrated searching, I realized why.