July's "Oil of the Month" is ... Lemon

More than 7 million accidental poisonings occur each year from chemicals found in kitchen cleaners, with more than 75% involving children under the age of 6!

- The Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons

Over 100 chemicals commonly found in homes have been linked to allergies, birth defects, cancer, and psychological abnormalities.

Housewives have a 55% high risk of getting cancer than do women working outside the home due to the amount of exposure to the products they use on a daily basis.

A child is accidentally poisoned every 30 seconds at home, according the U.S. Poison Control Centers.

The average American uses about 25 gallons of toxic, hazardous chemical product per year, in their home.

The toxic chemicals in household cleaners are three times more likely to cause cancer than air pollution.

Only 1% of toxins are required to be listed on labels, because companies classify their formulas as "trade secrets."

If you haven't considered switching over to natural cleaners before, I hope you will consider it now, after reading the above statistics. These statistics are real, they are scary, and they will only continue to rise with each passing year as we become more dependent on these convenient, store bought cleaners. You don't have to rush over to your cabinets and start throwing out every cleaner in sight. Start easy and small, and slowly transition your house over to all natural cleaners. That way, you won't get overwhelmed and give up. Start with the essential oil known as Lemon Oil.

Lemon Oil is one of my favorite oils because it smells Ah-May-Zing!! Seriously I can't get enough of it. I love cleaning my kitchen with my homemade natural cleaner and having the entire house fill with the odor of Lemon Oil. Lemon Oil is a natural antiseptic, antifungal, antioxidant, antiviral, astringent. These properties make it the perfect natural cleaner for your house.

This Lemon Oil is extracted directly from real lemons, without the use of chemicals and toxins. This Lemon Oil is also known for it's medicinal properties that date all the way back to Christopher Columbus. Back in those days, Lemon Oil was used to fight food poisoning, malaria, typhoid epidemics, scurvy, and postpartum depression. Today, the French medical community still uses Lemon Oil to treat various infections. Needless to say, this Oil is safe to use in your home.

I don't use any chemical cleansers in my kitchen anymore. The only thing I use to clean my kitchen is a dishrag and Lemon Oil. I lightly wet the dishrag, and then I add a drop or two of Lemon Oil to the rag and wipe down my counters, clean my microwave, or wash out my sink. I also have a spray bottle with a mixture of water and Lemon Oil. I use this to spray my counters to wipe them down. Either method works great, it just depends on what is convenient for me at the time.

Making the natural cleaning spray is easy. Fill a spray bottle 3/4 of the way with water, then add drops of Lemon Oil. Start with ten drops and then test the spray by smelling it. As long as you can smell the refreshing odor of the lemon, it will work to clean your counter tops just fine. For a stronger smell, you can always add more drops of Lemon Oil.

I really want to encourage you to start using Lemon Oil as a way to clean your house. Especially if you have small children and pets, don't let them become one of the statistics above!

If you are interested in purchasing Lemon Oil for yourself, you can order it here: www.mydoterra.com/abbyshroka  
Click on "shop for products" in the top right hand corner.
After entering the country of shipping, click on "single oils" to find Lemon Oil.

For those of you who are interested in all natural cleaning supplies, next month, I will be featuring another oil that I use for cleaning around my house. Subscribe to this blog to make sure you don't miss it!

Wishing you all Health, Hope, & Happiness
Abby

If you missed last month's essential oil, click here, to read all about Oregano Oil and how it works to boost your immune system.

Wait On Your Health With Passion

"Wait passionately for God; don't leave the path." Psalm 37:34 (msg)

Have you ever noticed that people don't last long on a new diet or exercise routine? Maybe you're one of those people. Take heart because you aren't alone! It is hard to find the time and make the necessary sacrifices to eat right and exercise. Especially when you aren't getting the results you want.

When you first start exercising and changing your diet over to a more healthy lifestyle, you're going to be doing a lot of waiting. Weight doesn't just melt off. It took months, and maybe even years, to put that weight on, so why should it take only days or weeks to take it off? It doesn't work that way! The same goes for reversing disease. Years of bad choices gave you diabetes and high cholesterol. Reversing that damage won't come easy.


The key is to wait with passion! In Psalm 37:34 it says to "Wait passionately for God, don't leave the path." What does it mean to wait passionately? I know what it means to wait negatively; to complain and worry while I wait. To lose hope and fall into despair. Feeling like there is no hope, this is when most people give up and quit their diet and stop exercising. Waiting is no joke! It can be hard. It can be frustrating. But know this: when you play by God's rules, and follow his will for your life, and for your health, you're going to be waiting.

Not only will you be waiting on God some point, but there is always a purpose in the waiting. Always. That is why God calls us to wait PASSIONATELY. He doesn't want us to just sit down, twiddle our thumbs, and complain while we wait for Him to work. He wants us to be learning and growing while we wait. He uses waiting to test our faith. He uses waiting to prepare us for what is ahead. He wants us to get all we can out of the waiting time.

How do you wait passionately when the weight just won't come off, when you aren't seeing any results? In the second half of our verse, God gives us the answer: "don't leave the path." In other words,  don't give up! God desires for us to remain in him through out the entire process. Involve him in your new diet and exercise routine. Ask Him to help you succeed every single day.

What are you waiting on right now? We are all waiting on God for something. 

Are you learning all you can about healthy eating while you wait?
Are you passionately remaining in God through this time of waiting?
Are you allowing God to prepare you, teach you, and train you, or have you sat back and given up? Have you slowly started to leave the path of a regular exercise routine?

What are you waiting on right now? 

Are you waiting with passion? Are you waiting in the middle of the path?

Waiting with Confident Expectation

"But those who hope in The Lord will renew their strength," 
Isaiah 40:31a

I have yet to meet a person that truly enjoys waiting. There is a reason why it costs more to skip to the front of the line at an amusement park, why the early release of a popular movie sells out so quickly, and why people like to drive fast cars. Waiting stinks. It's not for the faint of heart.

In the Bible, the word "hope" and the word "wait" are sometimes used interchangeably. Depending on the translation of the Bible that you are familiar with, you may know a verse to have the word "hope" in it, while another translation has the word "wait." An example of this is in Isaiah 40:31a.  Many people know this verse to say: "But those who HOPE in the Lord will renew their strength," while many others know it to say: "But those who WAIT in the Lord will renew their strength."

This used to baffle me, because when I think of waiting, it is definitely not combined with positive emotions. When I'm waiting, I'm anxious, nervous, impatient, analyzing, and calculating. None of these emotions equate to hope.

In Hebrew (the language of the old testament), the word "hope," means to look ahead in confident expectation. The words "look ahead" and "expectation" do give us a sense of waiting, so it does make sense that these words are related. Instead of waiting in panic, and agitation, we should be waiting in confident expectation because of the promises we have from our God.

Our God promises to "Work all things out for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose" Romans 8:28

Our God promises that "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind can conceive, the things that God has in store for those who love him," 2 Corinthians 2:9

Our God promises "For I know the plans I have for you, declares The Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future," Jeremiah 29:11

With promises like these, we have every reason to hope in The Lord with confident expectation!

So let me ask you; what are you waiting on? We are all waiting on something. Are you waiting with hope, or with anxiety? Are you waiting with confidence, or with calculated stress? Are you waiting with expectation, or with despair?

Wishing you all Health, Hope, & Happiness
Abby