♥Hi Friends!

It’s taken time, but I…LOVE…ME!  Let me explain by telling a story from an experience a couple of years back:

“I’m not sure how come I hadn’t ever noticed it before, and how it snuck up on me like it did.  I mean I’d used them all my life.  I suppose I’d grown accustomed to myself after almost 45 years.  But how had I overlooked something so obvious?  You see I was sitting in church one day, when I happened to glance down at my lap and in surprise (and I must say in somewhat horror) noticed hands that I didn’t recognize!

I won’t lie.  It took me a couple of days to process the changes in them that I had neglected to notice.  But every day, and the longer I thought about it, I started to appreciate them more and more.  I began to see stories of HEALING in them, from a blessed life filled with quiet service.  Service from middle of the night cleaning of throw up on my children’s bedroom carpet, clean toilets, and meals prepared.  And because of the blessing of ‘Grandma Katie’hood, they will continue to change diapers and wash sweet little faces.” 

There was a time when I thought I needed perfection in my PHYSICAL appearance, often neglecting the importance of the SPIRITUAL and EMOTIONAL part of me.  I aimed to look like the air-brushed models from the magazine covers of the 80’s.  But from life’s refining experiences, I now know I don’t have to measure my worth by the world’s standards, only the Lord’s.  What have I done with my life?  How have I earned my PHYSICAL scars, and strengthened the inside part of me?  From the battles, and sometimes all out wars I have fought.  Through them all, I managed to come out on top.  After all I’m still here!  All be it I haven’t always fought with the smartest battle plans, the greatest of gusto, or with the confidence that can only come through experience.  I did my best at the time, for what I knew.  And by hanging in there and continuing to fight the good fight, my skills were and continue to be refined.

I’ve come to appreciate my wrinkled and worn hands, and the crows feet and deep creases around my mouth (both from smiling, might I add).  I am grateful how they came to be, how I earned them.  I’m grateful that as I work to HEAL my life giving, and battle worn core, I can even sometimes love my squishy, opaque-striped tummy (remnants from my 5 wonderfully imperfect children), while I slowly watch the extra skin tighten and disappear around my middle.  And I’m not in a hurry.  I’m enjoying this HEALING process.

I have a lot of HEALING left to do SPIRITUALLY, PHYSICALLY and EMOTIONALLY and my imperfections are continually made known to me.  But we are first generation SPIRIT children of God which means I am His imperfect daughter.  And with that knowledge, and the Atonement,  I love me.

♥Love you!

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With this warm weather comes the great outdoors, with camping trips, BBQ’s and mosquitoes!  Oh, what to do with those pesky flying critters and other annoying pests?  I cringe now to think of all the years I sprayed toxic DEET laden, store bought mosquito repellents on my little babies.  So, I started thinking about it (I love Heavenly inspiration) and came up with a recipe for an easy homemade bug spray that is safe and non-toxic.  After I formulated my recipe, I “Googled” and found that many people use witch hazel as a bug repellent and also as a soothing agent for mosquito bites.  Click here for a great article about DEET, natural repellents, and bug bite HEALERS.

GRANDMA KATIE’S BUG SPRAY

• 1  4 oz glass spray bottle*
• 1 cup T.N. Dickinson’s Witch Hazel**
• 5 drops of “Butterfly Express” Away essential oil or 2 drops each of peppermint, lemon, frankincense and tea tree (melaleuca) high quality, therapeutic grade essential oils

Mix in glass measuring cup.  Pour in spray bottle.  Spray over body and on clothes, reapplying every 3 hours.  Place in fridge when not using.

Store leftovers in a small canning jar in the fridge.  It will stay preserved for 6 months in the fridge, or 3 months unrefrigerated.

*Another option?  I found a plastic 16 oz spray bottle in the housewares section at Walmart, used for ironing.  I put the whole 16 oz bottle of Witch Hazel in it, along with 10 drops of the Away essential oil from “Butterfly Express”.

**Substitute with George’s Always Active Aloe Vera for children under 1 year of age.