An Ounce of Prevention

With cold & flu season upon us, I wanted to share some of the remedies we use at our house. {I am not a medical professional! These are things that we have done & they work well for us.}

First things first. Let's talk about prevention. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, right?! Yes, it's true!! Starting sometime in September or October we work these things into our daily routine. Except probiotics, those are daily year around.

1. Quality Probiotics. 

Quanity is not quality. Maybe your proboitics have a high CFU, but there's more to it than that. Think quality AND  variety. A variety of bacterial strands are worth more than billions of the exact same strand.

We personally use Probio5 by Plexus, even for the kids. {I am a Plexus Ambassador}
Garden of Life also has quality probiotics. Let me add that Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, and the like do not carry real quality probiotics. Also, avoid probiotics with preservatives.

2. Essential Oils. 

This is really a post all of it's own. There are so many brands and so many oils. How do you know which to buy and how to use them? It can be very confusing. One thing that has to be clarified is that there is a difference in quality. What you buy at the health food store is probably not high quality and probably isn't pure. What that means is that it was distilled in a way that KILLS the medicinal properties and it's likely they have added a carrier oil which dilutes the entire bottle. You will not reap the same results with cheap oils, you just wont. I've tried and failed. We have a daily routine with our essential oils. With all of the resources online it can be overwhelming. A very short & simple blog is coming soon.

3. Elderberry Syrup. 

Elderberries have high levels of vitamins A, B, and C. It also helps boost the immune system. Rather than buying it, make your own! It's easy, it's cheap, and you will know you can trust all of the ingredients.

You can usually buy them in the bulk section at the health food store, If not this is a great source: https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/products/elder-berries/profile

Watch this video to learn how to make elderberry syrup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOYzWyFGkqM

4. Vitamin D. 

We use the Now Brand. We don't need vitamin D year around, my kids get it from the sun & other foods. We use this when we head indoors. Our pediatrician recommended NOT to use this year around.


Those are my go-to remedies. I like to keep it simple & affordable. With 5 kids life gets expensive in a hurry. I am working on a blog that will address what we do for specific illnesses {strep, bad coughes, fever, sore throat, etc}. You should also get a quality essential oil diffuser and a humidifier.

Also remember that what you eat matters. Sugar suppresses the immune system and feeds bad bacteria! So all of that Halloween candy and holiday treats your family is chowing on during cold & flu season is NOT doing you any favors.

What are your favorite go-to remedies?

A Decade Goes By

July of 2003, I was 17 and pregnant {read My Isaiah Story}. I had sworn off all guys forever. Until this guy walked in....




We met at Chili's with a group of friends after a night at young adult's ministry. The group was already seated when Mackey showed up {my baby bump was hiding under the table}. There were two seats left. One directly across from me and the other all the way at the other end of the table. He choose to sit across from me. I guess he thought I was cute. {I was lookin' good those days. Hormones actually did my skin and hair a favor.}

I knew right away, the moment I saw him that he wasn't from here. He really had a different look about him. He was a Floridian through and through. I also knew that there was something extra special about him.

We chatted with each other the whole time, no one else even existed. He had my nasty pizza sent back, I never send food back. I paid for it anyway.

I went home that night and told my little sister that I was going to MARRY him. {I mean....really?? I was 17 and pregnant. Who would want to marry ME?}

God was truly at work behind the scenes writing an amazing love story.

During this time I was attending a teen mom's support group where we had been learning about healthy, godly relationships. The day before I met Mackey, our leader had all of us pray and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal qualities and traits to look for in a future spouse. I totally refused. She really had to talk me into it. I probably looked like a toddler refusing to put the cookie down. I absolutely did not want to get hurt again and didn't even want to get married.

I made the list. It was bizarre the way the Lord started talking to me. My list had everything from eye color, to musically talented, he would have a heart for ministry, love my baby like his own, and so much more. Clearly God knew who I was about to meet.

After only a few weeks I started to notice things in this guy that were on my list. We were just friends but he was so kind to me and fun to be around. You have to understand, teen pregnancy today is more accepted than 11 years ago. In my small Christian circle it was as if I had leprosy. Mackey never made me feel condemned and when other people tried to he stood up for me. One time I thought he was going to punch a guy and we weren't even dating (it was actually only the second time we had met)!

So, here I am noticing this guy and the stupid list. I pressed into God and I asked for confirmation. I needed it! I got my confirmation big time from my mom's friend, whom I am sure had no idea what he was saying to me. He looked me directly in the eye and said, "I believe God wants me to tell you that you will not have to go through the rest of this alone. He is sending you a husband. You will meet someone. He has someone for you."

Um...what? Can you read my thoughts sir? Oh, how good is Jesus that He answers us? That is very direct and I thought I had my answer.

Now to wait for Mackey to hear from the Lord....

When I thought he had here is what he said, "I know God brought us into each others lives for a reason. I know we are suppose to be good friends."

Hmmm.....I felt a little disappointed. Ok, a lot disappointed. I left his apartment and cried. I really thought I was crazy.

Later that night he called me and said he really needed to talk. We went to the Waffle House {romance}. He was shaking so much the table was vibrating. I'm pretty sure I had to hold my Dr. Pepper so it wouldn't spill. He practically proposed to me. He basically said, "Earlier today when I said I was glad we were friends and that God brought us together....what I really meant was that I think we are suppose to be more than friends. I know God wants me to take care of you and your baby forever."

My response....laughter. I experience nervous laughter and I completely giggled the whole time. I'm sure that wasn't helping his nerves in the least bit.

Everyone thought we were totally crazy. Many hoped it was a phase, hoped we would move on, get over each other, and call it off. But, here we are TEN years and FIVE kids later. We are sticking this thing out and loving it.

I could not have created for myself a better man. He is amazing. He challenges me and encourages me. I have grown up with him. I know who I am in Christ because of Mackey. He has been the one to point me to Jesus when I couldn't see Him on my own. He helps me to be the mom my kids need. There aren't enough words of gratitude I could express here. Grateful to Jesus for allowing me to see the potential in Mackey when he was still finding God. Grateful that Mackey saw in me what God saw and not everyone else all those years ago. We really have had an extremely blessed marriage. Next to God's love this is the greatest love I have ever experienced.

Support Letter for Cambodia {Where I ask for prayer and money}

In 2013, my life was forever changed after a short-term mission trip to Cambodia. Cambodia is a country located in Southeast Asia. The people suffer from the loss of nearly an entire generation, a generation that would have been grandparents, elders, and leaders in the community today. The after effects of the Khmer Regime are poverty, corruption, hunger, disease, and human trafficking.

Global Reach for Justice will partner with local churches and Christian ministries in Cambodia to bring hope and helping hands. Our team will participate in local feeding programs, visit the slums or “dumps,” care for orphans, and much more. We will also support Global Reach Hope Centers, a center which rescues at risk children, by bringing food, supplies, and doing home improvement projects.

This is a step of faith for me as I am embracing the call I know God has placed in my heart. I am a short-term missionary. I feel such a burden of love for God’s people and want desperately to be the hands and feet of Jesus. My goal this year is simply Cambodia, but in the years to come, my hope is to travel to Africa, as well. I will go where ever the Lord leads. It’s a pretty wild dream for a homeschooling mom of five young kids but it’s not impossible!

So, I am asking you to partner with me in prayer and in financial support, because the truth is I can’t do this without the help from my family and friends. The money donated not only goes towards my trip, but will also help fund the work we will be doing.  Please prayerfully consider partnering with me.

“Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”    Isaiah 1:17

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Prayer requests:

Hope Center in Kampong Cham, 33 orphans.

Feeding programs and slum ministry efforts.

Church planting and pastoral/volunteer training.

Funding for Christmas outreach.

Funding for all team members, safe travel, and to have a large impact.

"And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”    John 14:13-14

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Fundraising Deadlines:

FEBRUARY 20 // $1000.00
MARCH 20 // $1000.00
APRIL 17 // $1000.00
MAY 22 // $550.00

(Total cost $3800, which includes a $250 deposit.)

Trip Dates:

July 6th-July18th

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Financial contributions can be made online, globalreachforjustice.com.

Cambodia or BUST!

Last year I headed out to Cambodia and this year the Lord has pressed it upon my heart to go again. I sat on this for about the last month or so. I feel like I just got home {TIME flies when you are raising kids!!!} but now I am preparing to head back.

I fully believe the Lord is up to something big {isn't He always}! I had so much hope and excitement in my heart when I headed out last July and this time I have even more. It's almost like an anxiousness, waiting to see what awesome things the Lord has in store.

He is the potter and I am HIS clay. I want to open my life up to Him, to be a vessel. When I think of this I picture a clay pot used for fetching and transporting water. Oh, to be a vessel that carries LIVING WATER. To be a messenger of hope and love. 

 

When I go to Cambodia this year I want the love, hope, and mercy of the Lord to be so engraved in my heart that it shines through my eyes. I am opening my life. My prayer is that I remember to open up my life daily, not only in Cambodia, but keeping it open for His work.

God provided for my trip last year in a supernatural way. I was blown away by the partnership of prayer and funding that came through. It was unexplainable the way the Lord poured out through His children and right into my life. I know that He will do the same this year. You, my friends and family are my partners. Please partner with me in prayer for this trip.


The dates for the trip:
July 6th - July 18th

Current Prayer Requests:
Funding for everyone going.
General blessings over the trip.
Wisdom for my pastor and leaders as they plan out all the details {and there are LOTS of details}.

If you would like to partner with me financially please follow this link and type in my name Hailey Amos:
Global Reach For Justice

Here are the links to my blogs from the 2013 trip:
A Call
Leavin' on a Jet Plane
There and Back Again

The Never Ending Vaccine Saga

I have a couple of responses to the little vaccine article that I've seen A LOT over the past few weeks.

1. Make an informed decision. As in do the reading and research yourself, from BOTH sides. Stop being spoon fed information from agenda driven and profit mongering people. Stop believing all the fear driven propaganda and make your own informed decision.

2. Think about this for a minute. I know fully vaccinated people who are sick all the dang time. I mean ALL THE TIME. And I also know people, like myself, fully vaccinated as a child and rarely ill. I also know a lot of unvaccinated kids and adults that are rarely ill also. So eat that. People get sick, vaccinated or not.

3. I know people who contracted whooping cough, chicken pox, and the flu after being vaccinated. Yep, totally up to date no booster needed and sick with the disease that the shot was meant to prevent!

4. I personally know people who have had an irreversible life altering reaction to vaccines. That was also preventable-by not vaccinating.

5. People who chose not to vaccinate are not trying to avoid the illness the vaccine was meant to prevent. We want to avoid the side effects to other ingredients and chemicals (such as mercury).

The bottom line:
You are not a better parent than me because you vaccinate. I am not a better parent than you because I don't. I am also not irresponsible or uneducated. I read, researched, and PRAYED before I made the decision not to vaccinate, I hope you can say you spent the same effort. Parents need to do what they believe to be the best for their children and let others be.

Here are a few vaccine resources:
The Vaccine Book by Dr. Sears
Dispelling Vaccination Myths (Three part article on Dr. Mercola's website, great source of statistics)
4 Things You Didn't Know About Vaccines (a blog & a documentary linked here)
A Rebuttal to Growing Up Unvaccinated
Why Vaccines Are Scientific Fraud

Before Black Friday

Before you make your Black Friday shopping lists. Before you grab the Thanksgiving paper and rip through the ads for all the hot holiday sales. Before you gobble up all the Thanksgiving yumminess. Before you even put the turkey in the oven. Think about the children. 

Ethiopia- Children's Hope Chest (photo credit)

Think about all the children in your city, state, country, and world. Think about them. Don't think only about your own children and how you can stuff their rooms with even more STUFF.

I have been Black Friday shopping. I will probably go again. I wont use that day for greed or to get stuff just to have stuff. {I really hate stuff and especially crappy stuff, it's the worst.} However, it's an excellent day to score some bargains on things our family needs and even things we want. It's ok to have nice things and to bless our kids with nice things.

I have to wonder though, at what point does the blessing turn into a curse?

The stores are opening earlier and earlier, many on Thanksgiving now. The workers are often under paid. Many, not all, would be considered the working poor. You know, those single moms or dads ( though, not all are single) busting their butts around the clock just to provide FOOD and yet they still need welfare. Shouldn't they have a day to spend with their families too?

26% of children in the state of Texas live in poverty. They can forget about Elf on the Shelf. Santa isn't coming to their house.

While we indulge in gluttony and call it holiday cheer, children all over the world starve to death. Literal death. Not the "starving to death" we experience waiting in line at Burger King.

When we are out shopping for our daughter's 100th doll or our son's endless stack of new video games, children go without clothing or shoes. Yet they dwell in the filthiest living conditions and a pair of shoes could literally save their lives.

Like these kids.

Not all is lost. In middle of the holiday parties, the frenzy, and the stress we can do something. What if this year your family decided to give gifts with eternal impact? Give the gift of child sponsorship. Take some of your Christmas spending money and give to reliable charities in honor of your family. I know it might sound cheesy! But it's not. Impacting the life of a child for eternity is not cheesy. Here are a few fantastic ministries to get involved with this Christmas:

http://www.hopechest.org/
http://globalreachforjustice.com/
http://sherescuehome.org/

Get involved locally! In my area there is an amzing ministry that not only provides coats for children who would otherwise have nothing, they also provide gifts from Santa. What a dream come true for those kids!! There are several churches in my area {and in yours too} that are providing holiday meals. Find a place to get involved. You wont have to look far.

The best way to spread holiday cheer is sharing the GOSPEL for all to hear! {Sorry Buddy, I like Christmas songs too, but the gospel has more impact.}

I'm not just talking about the Baby Jesus Christmas Story. I'm talking about walking out the gospel. Being the hands and feet of Christ this Christmas!

The One Rule

Yesterday was one of those days. It didn't look like this, but it felt like this! {Maybe it looked like this...minus the pregnancy.} I felt like a crazy mom. I chased my kids around almost all day. It was a less than productive day.

My children were WILD THINGS. It didn't matter what I tried. I sent them outside, I made them clean, and of course I nagged them! I used all of my energy not to yell and lose my patience or get frustrated. I did pretty well!!

Finally, I had this brilliant idea. We needed a little team meeting. I grabbed my white board and marker. They sat on the floor in the living room, wriggling around like a bunch of worms. I was about to write down some rules that they know they should follow.

1. Don't mess up the house (clean up your stuff).

2. Don't yell or run in the house.

3. Be nice to each other.

And on the list could go. Except, I didn't write any of that down. I wrote one word.

Our pastors taught on this in a parenting class. The one rule, respect, covers everything! 

I explained what it means to respect. I asked the kids questions like, "is it respect when you do this to my living room?" {My house was pretty wrecked.} And, "is it respect when you call each other names or fight?" Of course they know those are things aren't respect! Even the twins caught on! 

I have already had the privilege of using our one rule today! YAY! {Right....yay for getting to put it to use and see that they actually understand.}

From now on I will not have to nag or command the kids to follow ALL the rules. {Because, I will not be a nagging/commanding mom.} They have one rule. They also have consequences. 

Very soon I will share about our newly implemented "junk box." {It's different from the rummage boxes we have all seen on Pinterest!} I will also share with you about some of our other creative disciplines we use.