Homemade lotion with Young Living essential oils

During the dry winter months it is a necessity to have a good lotion on hand to keep your skin hydrated.  I wanted to find a way to make my own lotion so that I was not putting chemicals on my skin that the lotion at the stores have. I also wanted to use therapeutic grade essential oils because of the vast benefits they have on your body (all good ones!). I chose Lavender because of its fragrant smell and also because it helps keep your pours clean. I chose frankincense because it helps the elasticity of your skin and fades blemishes! I looked around at various recipes and decided to take ingredients from each one and make it uniquely my own.  

My husband and I are between duty stations right now so we are living in a military hotel while he is taking some classes. If I can make this recipe in a hotel, you can make it anywhere!

So, lets get started!

You will need:

1/4 cup grape seed oil

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup grated pure beeswax

1/2 cup of aloe vera gel (you can use distilled water if you like)

1 tbs of Vitamin E oil

15-20 drops of your favor essential oil ( I used Young Living Frankincense and Lavender click here if you would like to purchase some 100% therapeutic grade oils, enter my member Id 1591611)

A hand mixer

a glass bowl

spatula

a pot

and patience!

To start, mix the Aloe gel, vitamin E oil and the essential oils of choice into a separate bowl and set aside for later.

Next, You will want to get that beeswax melted as well as the coconut oil (coconut oil is solid until at a temperature greater than 80 degrees)  and grape seed oil.  I didn't have a glass bowl with me so I made a trip to Goodwill and found a glass jar, and decided it would to the trick ( just make sure with whatever you use at least one beater fits into it). Put the oils and beeswax into the glass bowl/jar and put that into a pot that has about 4 inches of steaming water in it (I set the heat to medium).  You will want to watch to make sure the beeswax is melting, stir occasionally.

Once the beeswax is melted, remove from heat and let stand to cool. The beeswax will start going back to solid state, and that is fine as long as it is still soft.  Once the beeswax mixture has cooled down to the soft consitancy is is time to add the aloe mixture!
But before you do that, use your hand mixer on low to mix up the beeswax, slowly start adding the aloe mixture. Take your time doing this step, if you pour it in fast the beeswax will get clumpy.

When you have added all the ingredients your finished product should look something like soft butter. Be sure to test out your creation. I was rubbing it all over my hands and showing my hubby the results as well.

I love this lotion, I now use it every morning and it leaves your skin feeling very soft.
One thing I want to say about this lotion for storage; because this lotion has no preservatives it will not have a long shelf life. So what I recommend is putting as much as you would use in one week into a bottle  and then refrigerating the rest as it will last much longer that way. When storing it, make sure you put the lotion in a dark bottle so that sunlight does not dampen the affects of the essential oil and it will help it last longer.

I hope you all enjoy this lotion as much as I am :)

Launching Your Boat

As apart of my personal devotion time I have been reading the book of Luke, I have read this book multiple times but this time I am reading it with a searching heart, what  I am to learn from God's word?

As I started reading Chapter 5 of Luke I instantly became caught up in what it was saying.
In the first verses it talks about Jesus walking by some boats as a multitude followed him. As He was searching for a place to preach He saw some fishermen by two boats and ask one of them , Simon, to push his boat out in the water a little ways so that He could preach to the people from the boat.

Now, I stopped here and wondered two things: Fishermen in bible times weren't classy people, they were more than likely poor people.Why would Jesus choose to preach HERE among the unclassy poor people?

The Bible doesn't say what Jesus was teaching the people there but I am sure it was inspiring. Simon and the other fishermen were probably near by mending their nets from the nights fishing trip catching a few words here and there of what Jesus was saying and at the same time puzzled as to WHY this strange man would preach in their boat.

When Jesus was finished preaching He told Simon to get back into his boat and go let down his net to catch some fish. Simon, an avid fishermen, probably looked at him in shock when he heard Jesus' request to go back into the boats after a tiring night of fishing and catching nothing.  Like many of us he was more than likely discouraged  from trying so hard and it availing to nothing and just was ready to give it up.  But something lit a spark of faith within Simon to try just one more time, maybe this guy knew what he was talking about. With that small spark he got into his boat and went out into the water. I am sure as he was preparing the nets he was thinking how foolish he would feel if he didn't get anything after listening to this man whom he'd never seen before.

As he lowered his nets into the water  he was filled with anticipation, as the nets sat in the water  he was in aw as he look at his nets, they were filling with fish, more fish than he had ever seen. As he raised the net to bring in his bounty  the nets began to break! With eager excitement he yelled to his fishing partner with the other boat to bring HIS boat and HIS net to help him.  Both the men worked quickly to gather all the fish that were in their nets.They soon realized that both their boats were full of fish, so much so that their boats were starting to sink.

I am sure Jesus was standing at shore looking at  all this happen, I can imagine he felt their pure joy and excitement when the men had both their boats full of fish, He was excited as they were!

Once Simon reached shore he fell down and worshiped Jesus, for He knew Simon's needs without him uttering a word.

Life today isn't much different than Simon's. Sure, we don't catch fish for a living but we work tirelessly at  our job, our relationships, our finances, our health and it seems to result in nothing or very little.  Our faith runs on empty and sometimes we just feel like giving up. If we allow Jesus to first step in our boat of life and minister to us, encourage us and uplift us it will give us the faith to launch our boat into the unkown and reap a harvest of plenty.

So I encourage you to launch your boat  with that little spark of faith like Simon had and see what God leads you to.