Living a Godly Wife Life: 5 Tools for Your Health

Living a Godly Wife Life: 5 Tools for Your Health
Oftentimes the discussion around living a godly wife lifestyle has a lot to do with ensuring you're studying scripture and learning God's instructions and expectations.

This is the most important thing to do!

You can't become a godly wife when you don't know what you're supposed to be doing. Read the instructions (aka The Bible).
Likewise, it's very, very easy for us to fall back into sin when we aren't feeling well.

When we experience:
  • fatigue
  • exhaustion
  • headaches
  • sleeplessness
  • irritability
  • inability to concentrate
Despite knowing that we *should* submit to our husbands, and we *should* show them respect, we can often snap at them (or our children) when we're experiencing anything from the list above.

There are several tools related to this area of physical, mental, and emotional wellness that I have found to be extremely helpful.

This is a pre- and pro-biotic, technically formulated for kids, but I love it so I take as well. Gut health is HUGE. When our gut isn't healthy, it can throw everything else out of whack, like our immune system so we get sick more easily, it affects our emotions, brain function, everything.

It tastes like a Pixie Stick, so my 2-year-old loves it as well. He can't quite "shoot" it like a Pixie Stick, so my tip for little ones is to put it in a shallow bowl or cup and let them get it on their finger and lick it off.

Ningxia Red is a powerful antioxidant supplement drink made from wolfberry puree that packs such a punch, you only need a tiny 2oz serving each day. This is another one that my little guy loves because it's delicious! NingXia provides total body wellness. Here are just a few of its benefits:

  • Supports a healthy immune system
  • Helps us be proactive against all the germs coming our way
  • Provides energy support
  • HUGE source of antioxidants
  • Support brain and joint health
  • Supports healthy hormone levels
  • Supports healthy blood sugar levels
  • Can help curb sugar cravings
  • Whole-food, nutrient dense supplement full of vitamins, minerals, amino acids and polyphenols
Super B is a B complex supplement that is great for maintaining healthy energy levels, supporting mood and cardiovascular and cognitive function. Our current lifestyles often leave our adrenal system (our fight or flight response) on overdrive, and B vitamins are a great way to support that system!

NingXia Red and Super B work so well together to help with regulating all the body systems and having natural energy. If your energy is depleted, it's so much easier to get irritable and impatient.

4. Exercise
This is a HUGE factor. Exercise not only helps our body to maintain the movement it was designed to have regularly, but it also helps our organs and muscles to be challenged. Regular exercise ensures that our bodies burn calories, which is a natural function of the body. It helps us to increase energy, strength, stamina, sleep better, reduce stress, and just feel better.

If you don't yet exercise regularly, please check out BodyFit by Amy on YouTube. Her channel is full of FREE workouts that you can do at home, many of them with no equipment so you don't have to purchase a single thing. She offers modifications not only for beginners, but also for pre- and post-natal moms, as well as experienced exercisers who need to up-level.

God created plants, fruits, and trees with so many different functions, all for our benefit. Scripture speaks of using plants as medicine. 

When choosing oils, you want to be sure they are of the highest quality and purity. This is why I choose Young Living. They are the only company that owns their own farms and is involved in the process from choosing the soil to packaging the product. They ensure quality the entire way through with their Seed to Seal Promise, never leaving anything to chance. They perform rigorous testing, using third parties, and will often allow an item to go out of stock simply because it doesn't meet their high quality standards. You get what you pay for, and in order to ensure the health of my family, I will gladly pay for the quality, purity, and expertise I know goes into each Young Living product.

Here are some oils I would recommend for us with helping to regulate emotions:
Valor (helps with anxiety)
Lavender + Cedarwood (great combination for sleep!)

I recommend diffusing in your bedroom nightly to help with getting restorative sleep each night.

The most important thing is to take care of your health with good food, sleep, water, exercise, and ensure you are studying God's Word every single day. 

The other measures won't mean anything if you aren't plugged into Him as your source of power. 

They are simply tools that He has created in order to help you in your journey. 

I am so grateful for these tools and will gladly accept them from Him! Will you?

If you have questions any any or all of these, please reach out and let me know. One of my goals is to make sure that we are being good stewards of our finances, and that means helping you save money. Please reach out to me so that I can help you place your first order and get the best deal possible for you and your family.

Which of these areas do you struggle with the most? 
Fatigue, irritability, focus, something else?

Share in the comments and let me know how I can pray for you.

When joy is elusive...

When joy is elusive...
When you're in a difficult season, it's so easy to feel defeated.

  • When your child is a prodigal.
  • When your marriage is falling apart.
  • When your doctor gives you a terrible diagnosis. 
  • When a loved one dies.
  • When you lose a home, a job, or a friendship.
  • When finances are tight, or non-existent.
It can be SO easy to think to yourself, "If only this would change, I could be happy. If only..."

What does God have to say about things like this?

First, we are to weep with others when they weep. When you find yourself in a season of weeping, you allow yourself to weep and work through those emotions, and you surround yourself with people who, like Job's friends, will just sit in the weeping with you.

Second, you lean into God as your source of comfort, of relief, and of your JOY.

Scripture tells us in Romans 18:18:
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us."
It's important to remember that nothing happening to us on earth can compare to the beauty and indescribable joy awaiting us in eternity. 

When we get there, nothing here will matter anymore. All that will matter is being in the presence of Jesus. 

Yes, it's painful to think about your child rejecting God and missing out on this glory. It's painful to walk through a divorce, or scary medical diagnosis, or a betrayal.

But when you feel as though you need your child's salvation, or your marriage to be a godly marriage, or you need to have all of your bills paid, in order to feel joy, then you have elevated those things ABOVE Jesus.

When you seek something other than Jesus for your joy, you've made that thing an idol.
Christ is sufficient for us. 

2 Corinthians 5:8 tells us
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work."
We have all sufficiency, in ALL things, at ALL times. And the reason for this is so that we can abound in every good work.

It's difficult to do good works when we're anxious, depressed, waiting on something else to bring us joy, isn't it?

Sweet friend, you don't have to wait to do good. You don't have to wait to find JOY.

Psalm 16:11
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
James 1:2-4
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Proverbs 10:28
The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.
When we place our focus on Christ, and recognize His sufficiency and ability to BE our complete joy, we will have that joy in abundance - even when we aren't getting the earthly things we want or think we need.

Can you believe this today? 
Can you believe Christ alone is sufficiently able to bring you all joy and peace, regardless of your earthly circumstances?

Comment below and let me know how I can pray over you today.

5 Instant Self-Care Ideas for Busy Moms

5 Instant Self-Care Ideas for Busy Moms

Most of the moms I know who are stressed out and in desperate need of self-care are the same moms who insist that they simply don’t have time. 


Between full-time work; distance learning with multiple children; running a household; building a business; supporting a husband; and being a friend, there just seems to be no time left at the end of the day.


I think a lot of the time, we equate self-care with taking a long bubble bath, or spending an hour at the gym.


What if I told you that some self-care activities could be done in just minutes, or even seconds? 

If you find yourself too busy to commit to regular self-care, check out a few of these instant (or almost-instant!) self-care ideas.


1. Stretch


Stand up, put your hands on your back like they’re in your back pockets, and do a back extension. We spend so much time hunched over our computers, leaning forward over the stove, putting laundry away. This simple stretch is SO good for our backs! Then just raise your hands overhead and stretch upwards. 


2. Drink water


The time it takes to get up and fill a glass of water, then drink it, can be used as just a minute to breathe. This also helps you to get a little more hydrated, which can do wonders for your mindset and health. 


3. Check out the daily story on the Bible app


This is a new feature that has only just recently rolled out. It’s the verse of the day, a 1-3 minute video thought from a pastor or Bible teacher, a quick devotional to read, and then a 1-2 sentence prayer. It’s new every day, it’s not a plan that requires you to stay caught up, it takes only minutes, and it’s always refreshing. If you miss a day, it’s no big deal. You’re not behind, you just check out the story the next day.


4. Use a Stress Away roller


Stress Away is one of my favorite Young Living essential oil blends. I keep a roller in my purse to use any time I need it, and I diffuse it a LOT now being home all the time. If you’ve never used it before, I would be more than happy to send you a sample! Just one quick inhale of this blend and you feel like you’re transported to a tropical island. 


5. Pet your dog or cat


Did you know studies show people with pets live longer? Why is that? Because spending a minute petting our furry family can slow our heart rate and release dopamine and seratonin, which regulates your mood and reduces stress. Just make someone else clean up the poop. 


Here are a few other bonus ideas for you:
  • Send a short Facebook message or text to check in on a friend
  • Mail a hand-written letter or quick postcard
  • Go for a quick, 5-10 minute walk

I also know that the idea of making sure you complete some kind of self-care can feel daunting and stressful in itself, because it’s just one more thing you “should” be doing. If none of these activities resonates with you, find something that DOES.


True self-care is taking care of yourSELF, not anyone else, so you need to find things that make you feel good. If you miss a day, don’t stress. 


Just know that YOU are important. You can’t serve anyone if you’re stressed to the point of sickness. It’s imperative that you stay healthy, and one major component to this is finding whatever self-care works for you.


So tell me, if you had all the time and money in the world, what act of self-care would you choose?


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4 Areas of Self Care to Energize Your Life! A Guest Post

4 Areas of Self Care to Energize Your Life! A Guest Post

I have been wracking my brain to think of how I can best serve and help you during this time when we're out of our normal routine and thrown into unusual circumstances. I met Deborah and loved how she infused self-care with energy, and I gratefully accepted her offer to guest post on the blog this week. 


I hope that you find as much value in these tips as I did! As always, please let me know what you think and if I can help you in any way. 

We all have demands on us that drain our energy. In fact, that is how humans are designed right? We put forth all day and then sleep hard at night! 


But sometimes we struggle to really RESTORE ourselves and our energy. 


The truth about Self Care that gets lost in pop culture is that it is more than getting massages, or treating yourself to a girls day, or taking the most amazing vacation ever. 


Self Care is any intentional action we take that cares for our mind, body, spirit, or emotions.  Using that as an outline, let's talk self care!


1. Care for Your Body.

It’s so easy to let caring for your body slide, especially if you don’t like what you see in the mirror. Out of sight, out of mind, you’ve got more important things to do right!??! Wrong! 


Taking care of your physical needs is most important, because if you don’t, then you have nothing to give. 


It’s so easy to recommend sleep to reenergize, but if you are a mama, sleep doesn’t just come! 


So what are other, practical ways, to recharge you throughout the day?


  • Schedule yourself 10-20min to exercise: yoga, walking, bench pressing babies... 😊

  • Pause to rest your mind and body for 10 minutes. 

  • Make your favorite smoothie.

  • Honor your physical space; cleaning can be a gift to yourself.

  • Celebrate one aspect of your body; this will lift your mood and improve your ability to care for it well.  


2. Care for Your Mind.


Mental health is no joke and we see the effects of neglected mental health everywhere. 


The truth is, our minds aren’t safe. At some point we can get so wrapped up in our own thoughts and beliefs it can be difficult to untangle them all without professional help. 


The first step of good mental health is acknowledging where you are. Is postpartum still kicking your head? Are long, lonely days at home leaving you confused as to the day? Are you struggling with being a working mom, the battle between heart and need? You aren’t alone! So why stay alone? 


  • Acknowledge out loud where you are mentally, telling your partner or a friend. 

  • Remember to take time throughout your day to talk to other adults.

  • Make a list of topics or tasks that excite your brain, and make time to enjoy them. 

  • Read books and write in a journal.

  • Remember to dream a little, set your inner creative free, down a happy path, and enjoy the ride!


3. Care for Your Spirit. 


We don’t always like to think about our spiritual selves; religion might not be your thing, but you still have a soul. 


In ancient Greek the word used is “Psuche” which means breath. The idea is that your spirit is your very breath, it is the core of who you are, and the ultimate purpose in your life. The Greeks also didn’t break humans down into these four parts, instead recognized that they are all one, all interconnected, and all valuable. 


In neglecting your spirit, free, religious, or otherwise, you neglect a very important part of who you are and all you can be. 


  • Make time for your daily religious practice.

  • Identify passions that you can live out every day within mom-life!

  • Identify your personal values; if you aren’t living in line with these values, you will have inner battles that are very draining. Living aligned with them, you will free up energy. 

  • Take time to identify who you are now, and who you want to be growing forward, and embrace your true spirit!


4. Care for Your Emotions.


Emotions, feelings, are just information telling us about what is happening around and in us. 


Because so much can change moment to moment, our feelings can often feel like a roller coaster. 


Scientists have now begun to see how these feelings are stored in the cells of our bodies, trauma, anxiety, and such. 


Remember that when you feel like you cannot care for your emotional world, that it's too overwhelming, psychotherapy can really help.


  • Crying is healthy. There is no shame in it. So have that good, cathartic cry.

  • When juggling multiple emotional worlds, remember your kids' emotions are theirs, they need to learn to process them. While it is your job to teach this, it's not your job to process it for them.

  • Make a habit to enjoy self-soothing practices, anything that calms and re-centers your emotional world.

  • Name your emotional need, and learn to identify what meets it, so that you can learn to ask for what you need. 

  • Giggle, flirt, and celebrate life with your partner; it's easy to get bogged down in the emotional depths of life - pause to enjoy the fun parts, too.


Today’s guest blogger is Deborah Sprague, a Certified Professional Coach who delights in helping clients break through barriers and reach personal goals! Teaching others how to Self Care has long been a passion of hers, and her favorite ways of caring for herself are hiking; listening to music; viewing art; and enjoying healthy, delicious, food! She can be found encouraging you to self care on Instagram and Facebook @PsucheLife


Eat More for Energy? Sign Me Up!

Eat More for Energy? Sign Me Up!
If you're anything like me, you've probably been on a million and one diets throughout your life. Maybe you hit your goal weight, maybe you didn't - maybe you gained the weight back, or maybe you're trying now to maintain all of your hard work.
 
Cutting calories (safely) is a great way to lose weight.
 
But - the calories we DO consume can make or break our weight loss efforts AND our energy levels.
 
Eating a 150 calorie chocolate bar might not throw off your tracker for the day, but replacing it with some Greek yogurt and a banana can not only keep your tracker happy as well, but can also help you to feel great all day long and still keep your tracker happy.
 
There are SO many healthy foods that we already know we should be eating (and which ones we shouldn't!). 

How in the world are we supposed to know exactly which foods can give us the energy we need?
 
To take some of the guesswork out for you, I've compiled a list of the best foods to keep you energized throughout the day. As busy moms, we need to keep our energy on high so we can get #allthethings done, so here are some foods that you can incorporate into every meal.
 

Breakfast:

  • Bananas
  • Oranges
  • Apples
  • Blueberries
  • Watermelon
  • Eggs
  • Coffee and Green Tea
  • Whole Grain Cereal
  • Greek Yogurt
  • Chia Seeds
 

Lunch and Dinner:

  • Avocados
  • Dark, leafy greens (Spinach, Kale, etc.)
  • Quinoa
  • Lentil
  • Tuna Fish
  • Beans
  • Wild Salmon
  • Lean Beef
 

Snacks:

  • Dates
  • Raw Almonds (no added oils or salt)
  • Edamame
  • Trail Mix
  • Pumpkin Seeds
  • Dark chocolate (70% cacao or more)
These are easy foods to spread throughout our day so that we can keep our energy on high.
 
Which of these are your favorites?

 
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