This article “Girl, Follow Jesus” is making its rounds. I won’t even share the hyperlink so it doesn’t get additional clicks/boost the Google algorithm for it. It’s a critique of The NY Times Bestselling book “Girl, Stop Apologizing” by Rachel Hollis.

Most everyone I’ve seen share this negative article haven’t even read Rachel Hollis’ books. 🤦🏼‍♀️ It’s so disheartening to me to see people tearing down something they haven’t even looked at.

The author of this article, Jen Oshman, isn’t even a well-known writer! She’s a freelancer who wrote a piece for an organization that has a platform and a following. Nobody even knows who Jen Oshman is, but they are quick to take her words for truth.

Jen takes Rachel’s words completely out of context and extrapolates meaning the author does not imply or intend in her writing! That is such a sleazy way to write. Ugh.

“Girl, Wash Your Face” and “Girl, Stop Apologizing” are self-help books. They talks about being MADE FOR MORE than we often settle for, as in: get off your butt and find your GOD-given calling in life, and pursue it passionately.

Get up early. Eat well. Exercise. Do devotions and feed your mind with good stuff so you can show up well for you what God calls you to, and serve your spouse and family.

She even talks about the importance of keeping your sexual connection to your spouse alive! Ohhhh a message so many people need. Thriving marriages are crucial for keeping families together!

The richness of Rachel’s books is in the DOING of the things that God calls us to. She’s not beating us over the head with Scripture or claiming to know the interpretation of deeply meaningful Bible passages. No ma’am. She is literally writing about the lies we believe as women (like “I’m not ____ enough” to do {whatever I feel called to do}) and she calls it out and says that’s a lie that’s keeping you from doing all you’re called to do. Whatever that looks like for you, between you and your Maker.

To Jen Oshman, I say: girl, go feed the homeless or do something more useful than writing an article that’s designed to criticize something God has called another woman to do (and is clearly blessing!).

To women who haven’t read the book but who want to take this obscure nobody’s opinion for truth: read it with an open mind for what it IS (self help), and quit bashing something you don’t even have a clue about. Have the courage to have an original opinion.

To “my pal” Rachel Hollis: don’t let the haters get you down. You’re doing the work God created you to do and He is clearly blessing it. Thank you for a work that helps me be a better woman, wife, mom, entrepreneur, and so much more!

To my fellow strugglers who are encouraged by Rachel’s work: don’t let the religious people who cast judgment make you question whether or not God is doing valid works in and through you because of this Gospel Coalition article. Your faith is strong, and you’re my people.

(And PS: when Rachel Hollis says “follow me,” she literally means use the Follow button on Instagram. But if this post offends you, by all means UNfollow me!)

***If anyone does not yet use Audible, your first book is free! Use your one free credit to listen to either book by Rachel Hollis!! I highly recommend them both, I have them both in her cover and on audible but I love hearing her read her own work aloud!

Here’s the link to Girl, Stop Apologizing: https://www.audible.com/pd/Girl-Stop-Apologizing-Audiobook/B07FSY3DBG

Here’s the first book, Girl Wash Your Face: https://www.audible.com/pd/Girl-Wash-Your-Face-Audiobook/B077H1PRL8

Fight the good fight by giving MORE positive attention to Rachel Hollis’s works! 👊🏼✨

Life with a teenager is an adventure that changes day by day, and sometimes moment by moment. I don’t have a teenager, but I *was* one once, and I have had a three-nager (does that count?). Toddlers and teens can be alike in their moodiness and lots of changes in their bodies! Having an arsenal of essential oils and essential oil products can help you navigate life with a teenager.

Mornings can be a mystery, never knowing what mood the teenager will be in when they wake up. This isn’t because your teen is the worst child ever raised, although it may feel like it sometimes!

Diffusing essential oils can help improve moods and even encourage good moods while someone is still waking up (not to mention, even if your teen is still a turd — you’ll feel better with oils going!). The more consistent of a routine you can get in with your teenager in the morning, the more reliable their moods can become. Incorporating your kids (of all ages!) into that routine, with both oil and non-oil related tasks can help them feel like they have ownership in what goes on in the mornings. Giving them the support of essential oils before they head off to school can help make their time at school better, both emotionally and mentally.

Thieves Vitality in a smoothie or a cup of tea can help support their immune systems.

“Mom, I’m home!”

Does hearing this yelled through the house in the afternoon or evening make you cringe a little? It’s ok if it does. 😉 Diffusing an uplifting blend like Joy can either keep their good mood going or help pull them out of a bad one. Again, citrus oils pair well with it and do a good job of uplifting and calming at the same time. I especially love grapefruit with Joy because of the high monoterpenes. Monoterpenes are the lightweight molecules that make you happy. I like to picture them like butterflies in the air.

The Tranquil roll-on can be good for both parents and teenagers for diffusing outbursts and swells of negative emotions. I like to roll it on my neck and wrists like perfume. It’s pretty convenient to have in a roll-on form to take anywhere.

When you know emotions are high, diffusing Peace & Calming (original or the 2nd Gen, Peace & Calming II) and applying Lavender can be a good way to calm down.

Whether it’s hormones, junk food, or anything in between, most teenagers will experience acne and breakouts on their face and sometimes back. The Maximum Strength Acne Treatment will be your teen’s new best friend as they fight acne throughout the teen years. It has naturally-derived salicylic acid from wintergreen to help clear acne blemishes, pimples, and blackheads; but its plant-based powers don’t stop there! Tea tree essential oil helps cleanse your skin, while manuka oil reduces the appearance of blemishes. Aside from encouraging healthy eating habits, getting into a daily face care routine (outside of spot acne treatment) is a big part in combatting breakouts. Orange Blossom Facial Wash can be used comfortably for boys and girls and helps keep faces cleansed.

As teenagers are still growing and their minds are still developing, a good night’s sleep is crucial in their physical and emotional health.

● Dream Catcher is a great oil blend to diffuse for a teenager as their heads are filled with emotions and thoughts, and Dream Catcher calms both the mind and the body. 7 drops in the diffuser is a “perfect” number.

● Peace & Calming with Frankincense is also good as it can help calm the mind and body.

● Lavender, Orange, and Cedarwood helps parents sleep well at night — usually after staying up till curfew making sure they’re actually home, amiright?

Friends, I have saved the best tip for last: There’s actually a significant connection between gut health and mental health. When I first heard that fact, I thought it was hooey; but it’s actually science. You can learn more here, or do a little research on your own. If you want a happy teen, start with MightyPro as a probiotic. They’re individually wrapped and taste like pixie sticks.

Hope this was helpful info for you as a starting point for helping your teens (or tots!) navigate the deep waters of physical, mental and emotional growth.

To get started with essential oils, click here or if you are already part of Young Living simply log into YoungLiving.org with your username and password.

This roller is one I made up for a friend on the fly. She was in a book club learning with about two dozen others and she actually didn’t have a book yet.

Many others fell behind while she continued to show up, read the messages in the group, and do her best to participate without even owning the book!

That’s some True Grit right there.

Motivation stimulates feelings of action and accomplishment, providing positive energy to help overcome feelings of fear and procrastination.

Magnify Your Purpose stimulates the endocrine system for greater energy flow to the right hemisphere of the brain, activating creativity, motivation, and focus. This helps strengthen commitment to purpose, desire, and intentions until you realize your goals.

Peppermint acts as a driver for the other oils. It’s purifying and stimulating to the conscious mind. Research indicates that peppermint aroma, inhaled during mental tasks, may help attention, performance, and focus (Barker, et al., 2003).

I added red aventurine chips to the roller. I did so intuitively, but looked up this stone for the sake of my readers.

Red Aventurine is stone of manifestation through action. It draws upon the elements of Earth and Fire to increase the flow of prana, or life force, in re-vitalizing the physical body and focusing its energy to get things done.

Well, no wonder.

My gritty friend loves the blend. I got the roller from Root and Petal and I get my crystal chips for rollers from Shelly’s Rock Shop & Classroom. They’re $1.25/teaspoon and I love them in the clear roller bottles with colorful tops. Hope you enjoy this blend.

It’s time to get your elderberries for flu season, folks! The prices have gone UP by nearly 100% in the last month, so get them now before they’re all SOLD OUT like they were last year. You REALLY want organic berries because you are making a concentrate, and a private seller is more likely to be truly organic (no herbicides, pesticides). You don’t want concentrated herbicides and pesticides in your syrup! Defeats the point.

Stir to combine and store in a glass jar in the fridge for up to a month, OR water bath or pressure can your syrup in jelly jars so that you can store and share.

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So you just got your oils, and you need #AllTheThings to use them, like:

• roller bottles
• fractionated coconut oil
• spray bottles for Thieves Household Cleaner
• etc etc etc

I’ve got you covered! Behold, your master shopping list of EO accessories!

First of all, use Amazon Prime. Obvs. I’ve been a member since 2006. That’s 12 years of paying $119/yr for free shipping on everything I buy cuz it’s worth it. No pants required to click ‘Buy Now’ and have it ship to your door free in 2 days.

(And if you’re doing Amazon Prime, make sure you’re also taking advantage of Essential Rewards and using YL GO or GO+ to get free shipping from YL, too.)

First of all, you need a quality carrier oil because essentials can be spicy on the skin. You absolutely must have some quality carrier on hand if you are using oils at all. You can use grapeseed or olive oil from the store, as well as avocado or sesame oil right from the cooking section. Please do not use canola oil or a generic “vegetable” oil, which is processed and NOT at all healthy. I love the Young Living V-6, but if you have a wheat or tree nut allergy you can’t use it. So be sure to grab some quality Fractionated Coconut Oil (FCO).

Some fun accessories to help you maximize your oils:

1. Roller bottles allow you to dilute and keep handy for easy application. Perfect for kids! Digize + Pep for tummy support when you go out to eat, Thieves for immune support, Raven for lung support, Lavender to CALM yourself on the fly. I like these because they are glass rollers, color coded, and the clear bottle allows you to either add a label or display dried flowers or crystals inside these cuties. These labels are really cute and a good way to remember what’s what. I prefer vinyl labels to any others I have tried.

Toxins in our homes can contribute to serious mood issues, considering that a lot of chemicals are neurotoxins and nervous system toxicity overload can contribute to memory loss, nerve disorders, infertility, mood swings and more. Infants, children and pets are especially sensitive.

Young Living offers an entire household product line derived from Thieves essential oil, which you can learn more about here. They’re pet safe, kid safe, and aren’t harsh on your lungs, brain, skin, etc.

By far the BEST deal for Thieves home products is a Thieves Essential Rewards kit! It contains:

• Thieves essential oil blend, 15 ml
• Thieves AromaBright Toothpaste, 4 oz.
• Thieves Household Cleaner, 14.4 oz., 2 bottles
• Thieves Mouthwash, 8 oz.
• Thieves Foaming Hand Soap, 8 oz., 2 bottles
• Thieves Waterless Hand Purifier, 1 oz., 2 bottles
• Thieves Spray, 1 oz., 2 bottles

I priced these out, and if you purchased them on Quick Order or even on Essential Rewards, NOT bundled, it would cost you $156.50. With the Rewards kit, it’s $118.50! That’s a $38 or 24.28% savings over purchasing them wholesale separately.

And since it’s a Rewards kit, you will get a minimum of 10% ($11.85) back if you are just starting Rewards; 20% back ($23.70) if you have been on Rewards 4-24 months; or 25% ($29.63) back if you have been on Rewards more than 2 years!

That is some impressive savings. $138 with $29.63 back is $108.37! Retail, this would have cost you $207.89. That means the Thieves Essential Rewards kit is almost half price, folks.

In addition, if you sign up for YL GO or GO+, you will have free shipping for the year. It’s the “Amazon Prime” of Young Living. Learn more here (or click the image below).

I was recently talking to a neighbor whose husband is an engineer here in Tucson, and he tests water and air quality for a living. She mentioned how much he hates scented candles because he knows how toxic they are!

If you love the smell of fall in your home (even when it’s 100* out, like it is here!) but don’t want a side of carcinogens, try getting a diffuser and diffusing essential oils.

Remember, not all essential oils are created equally! Young Living is the world leader in essential oils … with good reason!

1. Young Living is is the only essential oil company that owns their own farms or partners with farms that are willing to live up to their standards for growing, harvesting and distilling.
2. Essential oils sold in most health food stores are aroma-grade or fragrance-grade oils and while they do smell good, they don’t offer the same therapeutic and medicinal benefits. These oils may have an essential oil base, but may contain additives, fillers, and synthetics to increase volume or fragrance. Pure essential oils contain all desired therapeutic compounds – nothing more, nothing less.
3. Most essential oils have expiration dates, Young Living oils do not. 100% pure essential oils (excluding citrus) will last indefinitely if properly stored away from heat and sunlight.
4. Young Living has been producing the finest quality oils for over 20 years and with over 180 different oils they have the greatest selection of singles & blends of any essential oil company. But, if an oil doesn’t pass Young Living’s strict quality standards, they won’t offer it for sale so sometimes not all of these oils are available until they can produce more. Click here for the 2018 Young Living Product Guide.
5. Young Living uses the finest production practices in the industry. They distill oils once at low temperatures and pressures, using chemical-free water and medical-grade stainless steel distillers.
6. Young Living is the only essential oil company in the world with a Seed to Seal process since they control every single aspect of production.
7. Anyone can visit the Young Living farms around the globe and participate in the harvest & distillation process. We highly recommend this experience! No other essential oil company owns their own farms and can offer this opportunity.
8. Young Living oils ­meet all industry AFNOR and ISO standards and are subjected to isotopic ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) analysis which determines whether a particular essential oil is naturally sourced or synthetic (created in a lab).
9. There are no minimum sales or purchase requirements for Young Living members. Ever. The only thing you have to do to keep your membership active is to place $50 in orders per year.
10. When you join Young Living with me as your referrer, you get access to me and my private team group of 500+ users. I am quadruple-certified in four aromatherapy modalities, and offer plenty of free knowledge and training to my entire team! I’d love to have you!

This month, Lavender vitality oil ($12 value) is FREE with your 100PV Essential Rewards order, so I wanted to give you a great idea for how to USE IT.

Vitality oils, in case you wondered, are the SAME EXACT oil with a different label. They are labeled to be compliant with FDA approved-use claims. They do not allow us to label the same oil for internal use and “cosmetic” (topical) use. Additionally, Young Living is one of the ONLY companies that exists that has oils pure enough for internal use. So being able to compliantly label them as a dietary supplement is something that definitely sets Young Living apart as the world leader in essential oils (just ask Siri, “Who’s the world leader in essential oils?”).

Really quickly, before I get to the recipe … some of you wonder why RICE cream? Many people choose to be dairy-free for many health reasons, similar to the way many people choose wheat-free or grain-free diets. If you’re interested in gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo recipes, there’s this great cookbook Against All Grain by Danielle Walker.

So without further ado …

Here is the original “Rice Cream” recipe that Gary created and was served at the Young Living farm in Mona, Utah, for many years.

You can add any of our Vitality oils that you like. I love to make this with Grapefruit Vitality oil and use about 15 drops of it. You can add a drop or two of Peppermint Vitality oil and add chocolate or carob chips. The possibilities are endless!

Enjoy and be amazed at the deliciousness of it all!

For more great recipes using Young Living’s line of dietary essential oils, visit https://www.youngliving.com/blog/tag/vitality-essential-oils/

In my Living Fit Club, we journal or review our “Design Your Life” journals daily.

Today’s subject was Courage.

Write your viewpoint on courage and fear and how they relate to each other. Then write how they relate to you.

-How would your most courageous self look?
-How would you feel?
-What would you do differently?
-If you knew you had nothing to lose, what would you be doing that you haven’t done?

Here’s what I wrote:

Fear is a feeling.

Courage is having the ability to press through fear and feelings to do, say or accomplish whatever is necessary. 

My most courageous self knows HOW, WHEN or WHY I need to act or speak.

She follows through.

She sets her mind like flint and presses into difficulty, seeking guidance and wisdom.

She acts and feels confident in spite of circumstance, and answers fear “feelings” with faith STATEMENTS!

She does whatever she feels called to do, designing her life the way she envisions it. 

She accepts unpleasant tasks she has to do and strikes a balance between acknowledging that it’s not her ideal/choice and REALITY, choosing joy instead of discouragement.

If I had nothing to lose, I would ask/tell everyone about my business and dive in without giving fear any credibility.

Essential oils that enhance this exercise:

Stress Away, Copaiba, Sacred Mountain, Gathering, Believe, Idaho Balsam Fir, Valor, Valor II (I used Lavender and Northern Lights Black Spruce)