Full of Joy

Last summer at this time, we were living in PA. We were deeply wounded, our hearts severed, and the pain we carried so raw it felt like a tangible illness. There were days where a darkness would engulf me, and my body felt physically ill. Going to common landmarks in PA like the Rutters gas station store or the local Walmart hurt like crazy. It was torture to be living there. There were nights I would wake up completely soaked through in sweat, all the way down to the sheets. I'd have to get a dry towel out to lay on, and change my clothes completely. After seeing the doctor, I later found out the extreme stress we were under was causing those horrific night sweats. By the end of August, our house had sold in a matter of two days and we were able to move up our closing date a couple weeks earlier. Our dearest friends in PA came to help us load up our massive moving truck one night.  I remember going to pick up pizza that night for our people, and weeping in the car after pulling ...

When my son was a baby, we went through quite a roller coaster with his health. For weeks, he had back-to-back fevers, with no other symptoms. Even though our doctors meant well, they scared the life out of me running tests on him, drawing blood, doing a catheter to get a urine sample- all things that gutted me as a mother. It was complete torture to watch him go through those miserable, painful tests. His results were usually "suspicious", and they'd want to keep testing, keep monitoring. Meanwhile I was beside myself, drowning in fear. I felt there was nothing I could do for my baby but take him to the doctor, wait on tests, and pray. That all changed the day a package from my dear friend, Misty, showed up in the mail. I opened it to find a roller bottle of essential oils. She wrote me a note telling me she prayed over the oils as she mixed them in the bottle. The instructions went on to tell me to roll the oils on Jase's feet several times a day, and to pray heali...