This is my story of healing and how I came to learn about essential oils...
Ten years ago I was chronically ill, barely able to function and take care of my family. I spent much of my day resting in bed or on the couch. I was 60lbs overweight, suffering with joint pain, migraine headaches, digestive issues and depression. I went to see several specialists and gave blood regularly for lab tests. None of the doctors could put a name to what was wrong with my health but all of them were willing to prescribe pain killers and anti-depressants. I refused to use prescription pain killers and instead managed with high doses of NSAIDS, and for a short season I gave the anti-depressants a try. The quality of my life was very poor and I was desperate for healing naturally. On my knees I prayed for an answer and God led me to...
Ezekiel 47:1-12
The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. 2 He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was trickling from the south side. 3 As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits[a] and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. 4 He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. 5 He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. 6 He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?” Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. 8 He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah,[b] where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. 9 Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. 10 Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea. 11 But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. 12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”
After reading this passage I narrowed in on the water element and decided my first step towards healing had to start with detoxifying my body with water. I stopped drinking caffeine and tap water. I didn't feel much better right away but I kept at it. After 6 months I decided to try an elimination diet of white flour and refined sugar. Again I didn't feel much better but I kept at it. The next step was to eliminate dairy from my diet. Since birth my body never tolerated dairy well and my mother was even told I was allergic but would probably outgrow it eventually. After only a few days I noticed I didn't have a headache for the first time in nearly 30years and I wasn't as tired. After 30days of no dairy I tested myself and had a meal filled with dairy. I suffered greatly after that test meal and I knew straight away I needed to keep dairy out of my diet. The detoxifying was slow but steady and my energy was still low but improving.
Another element of my health issues was the emotional strain of stressful family events and limited sunlight. Anti-depressants only seemed to help so far and after the doctors increased my dosage I had an adverse mental reaction. I was ready to leave my family and leave the world, praise God I was able to lean on Him and through much prayer and 3 days of detoxing I gave up all the prescription medicine I was on. Six months later our family moved 2600miles away from everyone and everything we knew to start over. The move was good but difficult and stressful. The stress of new family issues and starting over set me back a little but I pressed on, steadily improving my diet.
Three years after I read the scripture in Ezekiel I had my first exposure to essential oils. The person who shared with me was a fellow home schooling mom and a former pharmacist. I was surprised that a pharmacist would be suggesting something natural for medicine. She told me about the Young Living blend of oils called Thieves, which she used for fighting off colds and infections. For my entire life I have struggled with perfumes and because of allergies avoided all scented things. I took a chance and smelled the blend and loved it. It reminded me of Christmas and made me feel happy. Usually I am too skeptical to buy into the latest "get healed with this new fad idea" but this was different for some reason so I visited the Young Living website and signed up to become a retail customer and bought a bottle. I still didn't really understand how to use the oil so I just put it away with my other OTC medicines and just pulled it out to enjoy the smell of it from time to time.
About 4 months later the same person invited me to a bible study about the Healing Oils of the Bible. I attended the meeting and was introduced to some amazing women who taught me that essential oils were God's medicine and were created by Him for our healing needs. The speaker was so genuine and real, she was even moved to tears when she shared her personal healing story. Unfortunately I had another commitment the same day and had to leave the meeting early. Thankfully the speaker kept my contact details and invited me to listen to her teach about everyday uses for essential oils.
At this next meeting she shared about two new products Young Living had just made available. The first was Sacred Frankincense, a powerful ancient healing oil harvested from trees in Oman, made available to the world through the perseverance of Young Living's founder Gary Young. The second was Progessence Plus Serum, a blend of natural progesterone and essentials oils. The testimonies shared about the Progessence Plus product blew me away; I knew right then God was revealing something to me about His provision for my healing. I went home and updated my membership on the Young Living website and purchased the Premium Starter Kit to become a wholesale member and I ordered the Progessence Plus Serum. When my kit arrived I skipped over all the paperwork about the financial rewards and building an income from home, I wanted to use the oils right away.
We started to enjoy the oils and almost immediately after I started using the Progessence Plus Serum I noticed improvements in my health. The key to fully enjoying all the benefits of essential oils came when I got my first Essential Oils Pocket Reference book about where essential oils come from and how to use them. It didn't take long before our whole family started to experience the power of essential oils for all kinds of everyday needs including headaches, allergies, colds, constipation, insect bites, burns, cuts and scrapes, rashes, joint pain, de-odorizing, nausea, for memory retention and focus, as a bug repellant, in our household cleaners and so much more.
Over time my health has steadily improved, including: weight loss, more
energy, no more migraines, and relief from chronic joint pain. Eight years after I first read the passage in Ezekiel, I finally realized the power of verse 12...
12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both
banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit
fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the
sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their
leaves for healing.”
Essential oils are the
"life blood" of plants, often distilled from the leaves of the plants. I
believe that the Lord was leading me towards essential oils right from
the beginning and it amazes me how gracious our God is to care so deeply and personally for His children.
To learn more about essential oils and Young Living, I encourage you to browse around this site or feel free to contact me with any questions.
Blessings,
Sue
2 Corinthians 2:14
But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ's triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.
