A lot of people ask my advice when it comes to natural remedies. It's an honor for me to be able to answer questions and help someone else get a little further down the road of natural medicine. There are so many things that I still don't know...but I don't mind sharing the few things I do know. There are tons of people out there who've been doing this a lot longer than we have. I love it when new people discover the beauty of natural healing. It really excites me! But.... you know there's almost always a but...I feel the need to put out a disclaimer. So here's my list of health advice disclaimers:
1. I am not a medically trained professional. I have not taken any specialized classes for anything. Everything I know has come from years of reading, researching, questioning, more reading and the application of common sense. I also try my best to pay close attention to the Holy Spirit. Since it was God who called us into this lifestyle, He is who I go to first for advice on how to treat any ailment. He's the one who created our bodies, I figure He's the best source to go to when there's a problem.
2. You have to think logically. I will be the first to admit this is probably my biggest weakness. I am not known for my logical thinking skills. As a matter of fact, I am the world's biggest emotional thinker. I would love to say it's a woman thing, but unfortunately I know a lot of women who are totally logical and that seriously bums me out! But when you are dealing with sickness or injuries big and small, you have to always remain calm. Please believe me when I say I understand when a child is sick or in pain how hard it is to see them suffer, but we have to remember that the quick fix isn't always the best. Now again, I'm not a doctor so if, heaven forbid, your child somehow slices an artery, don't wait around thinking that cayenne pepper is going to stop the bleeding. Or if they break a bone, don't think it's going to magically set itself. You must take each situation as it comes and always evaluate, with the help of the Holy Spirit, how best to take care of yourself or you loved one.
3. You have to change more than just your medicine. Oh man...this is gonna be hard! In some ways, yes. You will be forced into a change in the way you live. But I promise you will feel soooo much better overall. I don't want to go overboard here so I will be brief in this. Our food choices are not what they used to be. Food is grown differently now than it was 50 years ago. The nutritional value isn't there thanks to all the scientific advances in GMOs and chemicals we put in and on our food. You will have to forgo convenience for the sake of nutrition and wellness. I'm not a food nazi. We still have junk in our pantry. But it isn't our main food source. We don't eat instant mashed potatoes and we don't eat Hamburger Helper. No frozen dinners...but I did buy some organic frozen spring rolls the other day at the grocery store!!! Work to reduce your toxic load. Get rid of the chemicals you use to clean with...I know...I'm talking crazy! But the truth is you don't have to disinfect EVERYTHING. Some bacteria is good. Clean your house with plain old soap and water or if you feel like you need some disinfecting... like in the case of rampant illness making it's way through your 6 kids...use essential oils. Young Living has an excellent cleaning product with their popular oil blend Thieves. It smells fantastic, by the way!!! Change your toothpaste...again Young Living and their Thieves...I love the Dentarome Plus toothpaste. But really any toothpaste without flouride would be good...for starters. Baby steps, baby steps, baby steps. If you can handle a big jump, then by all means, GO FOR IT!!! But if you tend to get overwhelmed, just do little things here and there that liberate your senses...And it will seriously liberate your senses. I have been obsessed with smells for as long as I can remember. I used to spray lysol, Febreeze, Glade air freshner...then they came out with Plug Ins!!!! Don't even get me started on Bath and Body Works!!! I always had no less than 6 bottles of lotion at a time!!! But when we quit all the chemicals and started using essential oils my nose literally woke up! I can smell things from a mile away! These are just a few examples of things you can change that will make a difference in your health.
4. Health and healing is a journey, not a destination. This is my hubby's favorite saying when it comes to natural healing and probably is the most least understood. We think that natural healing is supposed to be instant. God is the miracle worker...not herbs or oils. There are those rare occaisions that we feel better instantly...for example...Number 5 complained that her ear was hurting. I looked with my otoscope (best investment EVER!!) and her ear was red. An hour later she was crying...I looked again and her eardrum was completely swollen. Ten minutes after that she was writhing and kicking in pain. I tried several oils and nothing helped. I got online and did some quick reading and got 3 cloves of garlic and a slice of onion (both organic). I warmed some grapeseed oil and crushed the garlic and onion in the oil and simmered for just a few minutes. As soon as it was cool enough to put in her ear, I dropped some in. Instantly, she settled down, stopped crying and kicking, and went to sleep in my lap. It wasn't an instant healing, but the pain went away instantly. The next day her eardrum was slightly swollen and red but she never complained again. Instant relief...not instant healing.
5. What works for me may not work for you. Just because oils didn't work in my kid's ear, does not mean they wouldn't work in yours. They have worked in other situations where people had severe ear infections. Our bodies are all different and so it sometimes takes some experimenting to figure out what exactly you need to do. It can even vary within your own family. Just like you may not be able to teach every child in your family in the same way, or discipline in the same way...you may not be able to use the same remedy for every child. You have to be willing to fail without giving up. And you have to continue to figure things out...remember the journey not a destination thing??? Which leads me to my last disclaimer...
6. You must be willing to take your health and your family's health into your own hands. We are programmed (and have be for years) to think that we need a professional to tell us what is wrong with us when we are sick. Doctors are the experts, right? I mean, they spent soooooo much time and money going to med school and all that, so surely they have to know what's wrong with us, right??? WRONG!!!!! They don't always know what's wrong. They may have the ability to run tests to be exact, and they may even have the benefit of experience. They've seen (if they've been in practice for any length of time) every illness under the sun...you kinda get to the point where you can recognize it right off. But guess what...you can do that too!!! Recognize things, I mean! You don't have to have gone through years of medical school to realize that your kid has the flu. Oh and I'll go even further to say this....hang on....it's pretty radical....are you ready??? You don't always have to know exactly what's wrong to be able to treat it naturally!!! WHAT???!!!! Did I really just say that??? Oh yes I did! For example... 5 of my kids and my poor hard working hubby have been sick recently. Mainly a cough, 2 ran fever, and 1 had a major runny nose. I didn't need to know if it was a cold or a flu....whether it was bacterial or viral. Know why? Because when you use natural remedies, at least the remedies I use, they can work for either. WHAT???!!! But the doctor says if it's viral there's nothing they can do! Well, maybe THEY can't do anything....but nature can!!! God, in His infinite wisdom, created herbs and plants to work on anything from viruses to bacteria to fungus. Talk about multitasking!!!!
Sometimes people get all weird and go off the deep end and take what they read and just do. NEVER DO THAT!!!!! I would hate to think that because of something I said someone did something crazy and something terrible happened. I am no authority. I make mistakes...I make typos. I'm sure you'll find several in this article despite my constant reading and re-reading. There are things in other people's lives I know nothing about. I will not begin to speculate on all that is out there. Just do this one thing for me...think for yourself! It isn't hard to do...if I can do it anyone can! Really!!!! Take what you read and evalutate it yourself. Seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit. If you've never met Him, take the time to seek Him out. He already knows you and all your quirks. He can read between the lines and guide you in the direction that will work for you...He's waiting. All you have to do is take that first little baby step. You can do it...really you can. I believe in You and He does to!!
