You know that place you’ve always dreamed of going to? You’ve imagined it for years and treated it like the Holy Grail of destinations. Well, Switzerland has been that place for me since doing an extensive report on it in sixth grade and probably from loving Heidi as well.
Well last month I finally got to make that dream come true as we were going to be in France to visit our study-abroad daughter and had several days in our trip between traveling with her. So without much investigation, we chose a town to stay in along Lake Geneva in the southern part of the country since it was very early spring and we aren’t snow people.
While we were there we were blessed with INCREDIBLE weather and the bluest of skies and nice spring weather to enjoy the majestic Alps and the gorgeous lakes. Did I just sit there and marvel over God’s beauty? YES. However, I also had a huge AHA moment.
While the Swiss Alps are truly majestic and awe-inspiring, they aren’t any prettier than the gorgeous snow-covered mountains and valleys that my mother and I had the pleasure of witnessing on a gorgeous drive to and from Park City, Utah a few years ago. Each mile we rolled held a landscape that was even prettier than the one we just saw. Were those mountains as big as the Alps? No, but they were no less pretty or awe-inspiring.
Don’t believe me yet? Well, I have this picture on my wall in my foyer that was given to me by a student at an elementary school several years ago while I served on the school board. They were studying Picasso and were to paint their own Picasso-inspired picture. It’s bright, colorful and one of my favorite pieces of art in my home.
Well last month, I had the opportunity to stand in front of multiple works of Picasso and do you know what? Those priceless works by that very famous artist aren’t any more beautiful, colorful and bright than my Picasso-inspired painting in my foyer.
That was such a HUGE aha moment for me last month as I stood and enjoyed the majesty of those Alps. Am I glad I went? Yes…but it helped me realize that one beautiful place doesn’t make another beautiful place any less so. Of course, you'll have to let me know what your #1 place on your wish list is and if you've been there.
I'm guessing that not many people love an alarm...I know I don't in the morning and would love to just wake up on my own daily. However, my husband does want to get to work and work out before so that rarely gets to happen. I digress though...
I have discovered a way that an alarm or sudden sound from my phone or oven clock is a sound that I like and one that helps me...so I'm going to share it.
It's not rocket science and possibly you already do this so I'm not sharing anything new for you. However, I've found that it's SO helpful for me and it just might be so for you too!
What am I talking about? Setting an alarm or a timer to get things done or to remind yourself to do something. I'll give you some examples...
- We had our bathroom completely redone two summers ago and had a fan put in the shower to help suck up some of the moisture so it's not so hard to keep clean. We try to keep it on as long as possible, but all day isn't good or necessary and that's happened several times. So, now I set a timer on my phone to go off...when it does I go into the bathroom and turn off the fan.
- I've got to meet my husband somewhere in just a few minutes and I wondered what I could do during the time between getting back from the store and going to meet him. Well, I knew I wanted to write a blog post, so I've set my timer for when I need to leave and sat down to write. Then I don't have to worry about being late. I'll just leave when it goes off...I can always finish this post later when I get back home.
I'm not kidding...my alarm I had set off went off just as I finished the above paragraph! I'm back and since my computer was opened to this and I had started...of course I'm going to finish. So this proves the point exactly of why setting a timer can be a great thing! I can promise you I would not have felt like starting this now but I can definitely finish it!
One last way I use the timer...when I know I need to do something or tackle a project (clean out a drawer, fold a huge pile of laundry, clean off a counter, etc.) that I keep putting off; I set a timer for maybe 10-15 minutes and tell myself I'll work until it goes off. I do that and if I don't finish the task during that time, I rarely walk away once the timer goes off and don't finish what I've started.
So, as you can see...setting a timer is a great way to get you started doing something you keep putting off and giving yourself a way to walk away and tackle it another time or finish it and realize it wasn't such an insurmountable task after all!
Now can you see why an alarm/timer on your phone isn't always a bad thing? There's rarely a day that goes by that I don't use this in some way! Hope it helps you as well.
It all began in a Jr High gym when a teacher received a life-changing award from a large family foundation. I sat there thinking what a blessing it would be to change lives as a family. I knew right where I wanted to begin-- in the school district where we have raised our girls and I serve on the school board. See...our district has over 70% poverty rate.
Over the next weeks the Lord began to reveal what I was supposed to do with this. First I was to put up Little Free Libraries at all the school campuses in the district. One thing I heard clearly from Him was that I was to do this with my own money. Guess what? I was a stay-at-home mom and had been for 14 years--I didn’t have my own money.
All during these same weeks and months, I discovered Young Living on a blog but sought out someone to share in person with me. A friend came and encouraged me to invite others to come learn also.
I was so excited to get this first wellness box and I had some awesome aha moments beginning even the first night I had my kit. A few weeks passed and I was loving my oils and sensing God’s leading in these Little Free Libraries, and then I received the biggest surprise in the mail---it was a check from Young Living for just a bit more than what I had spent the previous month!! ...Remember those friends that I invited to come learn with me? Well they were placed under me and this was my thank-you check from Young Living!!
I was so excited to get this first wellness box and I had some awesome aha moments beginning even the first night I had my kit. A few weeks passed and I was loving my oils and sensing God’s leading in these Little Free Libraries, and then I received the biggest surprise in the mail---it was a check from Young Living for just a bit more than what I had spent the previous month!! ...Remember those friends that I invited to come learn with me? Well they were placed under me and this was my thank-you check from Young Living!!
Again I heard the Lord say clearly, “See you have your own money now.” Well, guess what? Every month I kept getting a check just from the fruits of that initial class. Also during that time our family was discovering emotional health, more energy, no more wasted hours in the day because of tiredness, better brain function and our respiratory systems were working so much better!
After about 6 months, the Lord used my friend, that introduced me to oils, to knock me over the head and help me see that I was wasting the opportunity HE had given me to bless the kids of our school district. I was supposed to be intentional about sharing what we as a family were experiencing with those around us. So I got busy sharing!!
Over time I was able to place Little Free Libraries at every campus and keep them filled with books. As I finished that project, the Lord revealed that next I was to provide scholarships to graduating seniors that have put in the work, but need extra help paying for college. So, for five years now we have been able to give an extra hand to a foster kid, an orphan, and multiple other graduating seniors who have been dealt extra obstacles in getting through high school only to not have the funds they need to move forward in their education.
Only God could bring about my family feeling better than ever, being able to help hundred’s of families experience their own stories of health and wellness, and the means to positively impact the lives of kids that need an extra hand to make the most of life...and achieve it all with Young Living.
Little did I know when I was sitting in that gym what a blessing the Lord had right around the corner for us and that it would be the beginning of such an amazing journey! I look forward to what HE reveals to us next...
Nine years ago today (3/21/23) I intentionally ordered my first Oils Bundle & unintentionally began my journey as a Young Living Brand Partner! It’s been the most amazing ride I could never have dreamed for myself!
I’m thankful the Lord didn’t give me a choice in becoming a BP, but just made it happen because HE knew I would have been too reluctant to begin this journey. Oh I’m so glad he put me on it because it’s led to these things:
- Community that I had only dreamed of– Including dear friends that have my back in any/every situation & that will help me grow in ways I never thought possible.
- Personal Development/Stretching that is helping me become a much more intentional and better version of who the Lord would have me to be AND modeling this for my family, which has caused them to do/try things they would not have had they not seen their mom/wife push past her comfort zone consistently.
- Chances to travel throughout the US (some of them all-expense paid trips) & experience new places and people
- A commission check every single month has been a huge blessing to my family & allowed me to purchase/install nine Little Free Libraries on the grounds of all the schools in our high poverty school district. Plus give scholarships to nine (so far) high school seniors in our district that come from poverty but are wanting to move on in their education after high school.
I haven’t even mentioned all the benefits physically that our family has experienced from the YL products, but that’s a given for those consistently using our amazing products! Plus if you follow my stories/posts, you see me share about this often!
My question to my fellow Young Living users…if there is even ONE Young Living product that you love and have a story of how it’s helped your family–have you made the decision to become a Brand Partner? If not…why not?
Can you name a good habit you have done every single day for the last 8 years with the exception of one week? (That was due to a shipping snafu.)
You know something is beneficial and good if you don’t miss for that long a time. Six months into our proactive wellness journey I redeemed points (like credit) to get two bottles of an antioxidant drink called Ningxia Red. I kept hearing things about it like it was the Holy Grail. I got some 1oz shot glasses at Walmart so I could portion it out so my two free bottles would last as long as possible.
You know something is beneficial and good if you don’t miss for that long a time. Six months into our proactive wellness journey I redeemed points (like credit) to get two bottles of an antioxidant drink called Ningxia Red. I kept hearing things about it like it was the Holy Grail. I got some 1oz shot glasses at Walmart so I could portion it out so my two free bottles would last as long as possible.
Mark asked what the big deal about this drink was and I couldn’t answer him, so I started researching. I came back the next day with some mouth dropping testimonies and Mark said some of the most prophetic words, “It sounds like we need to be drinking this every single day even if we have to pay for it if it’s capable of doing those things.”
So began our journey of drinking 1oz each of Ningxia Red every day if your last name was Mayfield. I couldn’t make you use oils or have a diffuser in your room, but drinking Ningxia Red was a non-negotiable in our family. I never dreamed we would be able to see tangible results in our family…it took a few months because after all, our bodies are complex creations.
This post would be way too long to share every single thing we’ve individually noticed from drinking our 1oz daily (Victoria has been drinking 2oz a day for 4+ years now) but here’s a few:
- Pretty quickly we began noticing we had more energy. Not nervous energy, but stamina to do whatever we needed to do that day and feel great while doing it. Victoria went from only being able to play one tennis match in high school tennis to playing two and then going to an hour lesson because she still felt like it.
- Pretty quickly we began noticing we had more energy. Not nervous energy, but stamina to do whatever we needed to do that day and feel great while doing it. Victoria went from only being able to play one tennis match in high school tennis to playing two and then going to an hour lesson because she still felt like it.
- Celia used to be HIGHLY sensitive to all things dairy and we had eliminated that from her diet years before. After a few years of drinking her daily Ningxia, she began adding dairy back into her diet and wasn’t negatively affected by it anymore.
- Celia used to catch every.single.bug that went around her school and missed quite a bit of school. After that first winter of drinking Ningxia Red daily we realized she had not missed any days that year and went on to get perfect attendance for several years after that.
- None of us have had to go to sick call or felt so bad we’ve had to go to the doctor in the last 8 years. I definitely don’t believe that’s a coincidence.
I could go on, but if you’ve gotten this far you’re getting the idea! While I 100% believe in multiple Young Living products that we use daily/consistently, I tell people that if they are just going to do one thing a day…drink 1-2 oz of Ningxia Red.
It was tested in clinical trials a couple of years ago and the results are pretty amazing, but not surprising to the Mayfield’s since we have testimonies in spades of what drinking this yummy drink everyday for the last 8 years. I’m so very thankful Mark saw the value of making this investment for our short and long-term health!
