My Ditch and Switch Journey

About 3.5 years ago, a close friend of mine, Jessyca (@knottedmoose) introduced me to the power of essential oils. I had just had our first daughter, Natalie, and my husband deployed 4 weeks after her birth.  I was a brand new mom, with a very fussy baby who would go to literally no one else and I. was. exhausted.

Although her doctors never called her a colicky baby, I’m certain she was.  I exclusively breastfed her, as I was the only one taking care of her, so it didn’t make sense to try starting her on a bottle anytime in the first few months.  By the time I did try bottles with her, she totally refused them.  Every single brand, shape, and size.  She also hated the car seat.  She would scream as soon as I put her in there as if her life depended on getting out. And to get her to sleep, I would have to swaddle her, nurse her, and bounce up and down on my yoga ball singing “Jesus, We Love You” over and over and over again.  

By the time I went to visit Jessyca in South Carolina, I was a hot mess.  Nothing could hide the bags under my eyes and the stress in my body. I stayed with Jess and her family for over a week to help pass the time of deployment.  She taught me so much about motherhood that week, as she has three girls herself, one of whom was only a few months older than Natalie.  She made it look so easy!  What was I missing?!

Now, let me just get this out of the way:

EVERY BABY HAS THEIR OWN NEEDS.  

EVERY MOM IS JUST DOING HER DANG BEST TO MEET THOSE NEEDS.  

I was not an inadequate mother, but I sure was open to help and advice!

That’s when Jessyca introduced me to the KidScents line of Young Living Essential Oils, specifically SleepyIze and TummyGize.  I could see their benefits right away.  Natalie’s sleep was supported and more peaceful, and the gas in her tummy that caused her so much pain was able to move out more easily.

I especially loved that I was using products on my baby that were safe and nontoxic.

I was amazed.  And I especially loved that I was using products on my baby that were safe and nontoxic.  As a new mom, I was always nervous about what medicines and supplements were safe to give her.  Using a company's product that promises to go straight from seed to seal definitely took away a lot of that worry!

After my trip to South Carolina, I had another friend, Megan, fly down to Virginia and help me drive all the way home to Connecticut to pass more deployment time with family. Shout out to my tribe! 

Jordan’s mom started sharing more oils with me, and over the two weeks I spent there, I started to really see all that I was missing in supporting my physical and emotional health in a natural and safe way. 

Fast-forward 2.5 babies later (one’s still in the oven), and essential oils are a daily part of our lives and health.  

I started using Young Living’s Thieves Cleaner about 1.5 years ago, and it’s now the only cleaning product I use around the house from floors, bathrooms, windows, countertops, and more.  It cleans everything better than any chemical product I’ve ever tried, smells amazing, and is safe to use around my children and dog.  As a young mom with littles all over the house, it’s important to me I’m using cleaners they can safely be around. 

The “ditch and switch” phrase has been used as a way of describing how people are literally ditching the chemicals in their cleaners, skin care products, medicines, and more and switching to safe, non-toxic products.  

Today, my ditch and switch journey continued as I finally got around to under my kitchen sink. ((shudder))  I took pictures for your viewing pleasure.  

Before the Ditch

It was a hot mess under there.  And to be honest, I hadn’t used over half of the products under that sink in over a year and half since switching to Thieves cleaner!  

And as I was pulling things out, of course my 1.5 year old wanted to see what Mommy was doing.  She began to pick up bottles I was pulling out and I had to keep taking them out of her hands.  As I was moving things out of her reach until I could throw them away, I just felt so convicted that I was doing the right thing.  Not just for my own sanity, but for the health and safety of my small children.  They shouldn’t have to be exposed to harsh chemicals on the floors they play on and the potties they sit on.  No more!

As I was moving things out of her reach until I could throw them away, I just felt so convicted that I was doing the right thing. 

Here’s the final product. A trash can full of harsh chemicals, and a new kitchen cabinet that is decluttered and simplified: Thieves cleaner. That’s all I need now!

If you’re interested in learning more about how I use essential oils with my family or how the Thieves cleaner has changed our budget (spending so much less on other cleaners… like $0!) and our lifestyle, I’d love love love to share with you!

Young Living has a Thieves Starter Kit and several other starter kits that include diffusers and 11 basic essential oils everyone should have in their home.  I’d be happy to get you started on your own Ditch and Switch Journey, and will be sharing more testimonies to come!

Email me at amy.kimbleblog@gmail.comor DM me on Instagram @amyjkimble .

P.S. If you need a way to organize your essential oils, go check out Jessyca's page @knottedmoose! She makes beautiful custom oil racks!

Be anxious for nothing.

Anxiety.  

It can rear its ugly head at the most inopportune times.  It can cripple. Disable. Take over.  Destroy. Redirect your day and your plans.  It can take over your mind. It can and will take every calm nerve in your body and eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

I don’t know much about clinical anxiety or how that’s even diagnosed.  I just know how I personally experience anxiety in my own physical body. 

It usually feels like electricity running through my veins.  I feel like my heart is beating faster than it should be, and if it’s really bad, my chest will start to feel tight.  

My brain goes on overdrive. Tickety tickety tickety tickety tick tick tick tick tick.  

Can some of you relate? 

Anxiety for me isn’t something I’ve struggled with for years, or have sought help from professionals. I know there are so many of you who have been fighting these battles for years… and had much more severe cases.

But I recognize it. And I feel it.  And sometimes, it just plain ruins my day.

Notice I haven’t said, “my anxiety ruins my day.”  I am not claiming this thing that happens to me as part of me, like my arm or leg or mind or heart.  No.  Anxiety is something that comes upon me. 

Last year, I was having a pretty anxious evening while visiting some friends for the weekend. At the time my daughters were 2.5 and 8 months old.  My husband was on tour for work, so it was just a girls’ weekend.  My friend and I were on our way to a bowling alley where she would host her daughters’ birthday party, and I admitted to her I was anxious about how my kids would do in that environment.   She stopped me in the middle of my words and said “You have got to stop claiming this as your anxiety. That’s giving it more control over your life that necessary.”  And then, like the amazing friend she is, she prayed for me…while driving… with five noisy girls in the back seat. 

Her words have stuck with me ever since.  

The words we speak… they have power. Did you ever think about that? 

You know that old saying that goes, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”? THROW THAT IN THE TRASH WHERE IT BELONGS.

Words do hurt.  They hurt when others speak them to us or about us. But words can also hurt us when we speak them over ourselves.

I began to anticipate the anxiety coming along.  

I even got anxious about being anxious.

Claiming anxiety as mine meant that I owned it.  I realized I was making agreements with myself that whenever I got into situations that triggered anxiety, I was bound to have those shaky feelings and tick-ticking brain.  I began to anticipate the anxiety coming along.  I even got anxious about being anxious.  Oh Lord, help us all.

Maybe it’s time I start claiming goodness over my life, and anticipating wonderful things to happen.  

Maybe it’s time I focus on what I do have control over, instead of what might happen in a bad situation.   

Maybe it’s time I see my life the way God sees my life: purposeful, full of grace and potential. 

Maybe it’s time…. to just breathe a little more throughout the day and speak LIFE. 

I feel like I can here God whisper to me as I write this, “Well, it’s about time.”

A few months after my second daughter was born, anxiety really started to grab a hold over me.  I connected with a few friends from church via a text group that were also experiencing anxiety triggered in different ways.  This little group has been so supportive in the darkest of times.  The funny this is, between the four of us, none of us really see each other outside of church, and hardly get time to talk unless it’s through our texts.  But when one of us is really struggling, this group is ready to rally and be strong for each other.  

As a group, we decided to read Max Lucado’s Anxious for Nothing book.  We did the Proverbs 31 Ministry’s study for it online, and would text each other our thoughts and prayers.  I truly believe reading that book, studying the Scripture of Philippians 4:6-7, and leaning on the love of these sweet ladies really helped pull me through to the other side of post-partum anxiety.

Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”  

Be anxious for nothing.

Yes.  These are the words I should be speaking over myself in those tickety-ticking moments.  These are words of life because they are God’s heart for me: to be free from anxiety and fear and to be prayerful and to have peace. 

You may be experiencing anxiety as you read this.  You may have just had a downright awful Tuesday.  If that’s so, I’m praying for you, dear reader.

And I’m believing and speaking GOOD THINGS over us all as we march on.