Category: 2k19

Posted in 2020, 2k19, Bible Thoughts, Chronic Illness Things, first post, Health & Wellness!, Mental Health, thoughts

How-To Guide to Lessen Anxiety & Depression!

Posted on by Kenzie S

It’s the winter months, and this is the time of year where anxiety and depression runs rampant in our minds and hearts. I think comparison is way up during this time of year and we can be so stressed by day to day life. I understand these feelings, because I deal with anxiety and depression off and on. It is a battle. We all fight it, even those who aren’t normally anxious or depressed. We all feel anxious sometimes. We also all can feel depressed. That is the real one of the two feelings I am writing about-no one ever wants to talk about. And since it hasn’t been an easy topic, it seems like no one deals with depression. But the truth is, many of us deal with depression. And, you know what? Depression in of itself is NOT okay, but don’t blame yourself. It is OKAY.

A couple years ago I was a part of a summer bible study that was going through some of the psalms (I’ll link the study book down below). One week we studied Psalms 42 & 43 which both talk a lot about depression. The leader of this study gave us these six things to do to help get out of the “depression slump” we can easily land in.

And even since then anxiety and depression have been increasing more and more. As much as I would love to think and talk over why this is, we have enough debates everywhere else in the world right now. We need to know practical steps to battle it instead of debating it. So, I am starting a 7 week blog series about 6 steps to battle anxiety and depression. I really hope it encourages you, whether you are yourself dealing with depression or anxiety, or know someone who is in the MIDDLE of this battle.

So, that’s all for this post! But stay tuned for the next six posts ’cause they are going to be PACKED with great things. So, come follow this blog either on the sidebar here ➡️ or scroll way on down below ⬇️. Love y’all so much!

Advertisement
Posted in 2020, 2k19, Chronic Illness Things, first post, hope2020, Mental Health, thoughts

Excited for the NEW Year!

Posted on by Kenzie S

Welcome to the new year! And the new decade. That is still SO crazy to say. 😂 But I just want to come on here and encourage you as you start your new year. I also wanted to recap some of what my 2019 was and talk more about my 2020 word of the year, as mentioned on my Instagram a few days ago. Let’s get into it!!!

renew 2019

My 2019 word was renew. This was actually my first year doing a word of the year. And It was really cool, when I actually remembered to think on it 😂. But this year was truly a year of renewal. It was hard, the hardest year of my life by far, but the biggest thing that I renewed this year was my passion and drive. At the beginning of this work I was lost, thrashing in a sea of doubt. But as I went through the year, I started to find my feet on a solid surface again-on God and His promises. I renewed my passion for Him this year and I am just SO excited to see when God takes me in this coming year.

December was HARD. My health was acting up so much (and still is!), and it was a pretty bad flare. But I believe it is serving a purpose-to make me lean more and more on Jesus and what He did for me on the cross. I learned so much about Him, and about myself this month. As hard as it was, it was a blessing. And it was a lesson that I needed. I know now that I had to go through that to see how strong I really can be with God with me 😍❤️

now…

2020’s word is all about trusting and waiting, knowing great things will happen, but going through the trials beforehand. This year’s word is…

hope!

Hope is my word for 2020. I know this year will be a year of ending a LONG waiting season. It is a year of finishing a transition season and moving into something so much greater that I can ever imagine. I am PUMPED for this year! 😁

I know it will still be hard, but I also believe and know that God is doing a good work in me. It’s like a puzzle or a painting. During the work of making a beautiful painting, there will be parts where it looks like a mess, and other times where it looks almost like it is almost finished, but something else will be added to DOUBLE or TRIPLE the beauty of it. That is what God is doing with our lives. He is painting a beautiful picture of our lives, and these beautiful pictures are just a DOT on His canvas of the whole time of the world.

It’s going to be an amazing year. And I am SO excited to be sharing my year with y’all. I love sharing what’s going on in my life on this blog and my Instagram. If you think someone could be encouraged by a post, go and share it! I just want to encourage others while I walk my own journey. I want to be with you as you go through the dark times that WILL happen. Let me know how I can pray for you! Prayer is one thing we always overlook but is the biggest thing we could ever do to help others. I pray for the people who read my content regularly and I so want to help you in ANY way I can. ❤️

So, what are some of your New Year’s Resolutions? Do you have a word of the year? Remember, whatever you do to prepare for 2020, that we will never be able to keep them perfectly. But that’s okay!!! Jesus gives us grace upon grace. Love yourself well by not feeling frustrated if you break a resolution. It does make a difference 😊❤️

Have a blessed New Years!

Mackenzie 🤗❤️

Posted in 2k19, Bible Thoughts, Chronic Illness Things, Mental Health, thoughts

Christmas with Chronic Illness

Posted on by Kenzie S

To be completely honest, I was going to post something totally different for this week’s Christmas post. But since, as I kinda announced on my Instagram (hint hint: follow @daysofsunshinediaries 😜), I’m going back to what I originally started this blog for: to encourage others, specifically Christians, who have chronic illness. And it has been two rough weeks for me. So I want to talk about chronic illness and Christmas. Because it’s my life.

As I was thinking about Christmas, and how hard it is for me, not going to the normal Christmas parties and gatherings of my church and family. Actually, as I am writing this, I am missing out on my youth group’s Christmas party, because of my flare of pain. It’s hard. And I completely understand.

But I don’t want us to give up on the reason for the season. Sometimes we can so easily think that Christmas is all about the food, the parties, and the gifts, but those are the last things we should think of when we think about Christmas. We need to think about the amazing gift God gave us-His SON came down to earth to save US!

Sooo, how do we focus on the reason but not the things?

The world wants us to focus on what we need to get or have or do, and what our social media should look like during the holiday season. But when we have chronic illnesses, and aren’t able to get and do and even just look like everyone else on social media, Christmas is different. We’re different. But, honestly that’s okay.

Sin is in the world and we deal with the effects of sin on our bodies. It’s not fun. But it’s okay. Because one day we are going to have glorified bodies forEVER! So we can life with this earthly body for a short time on this earth, but if we believe in our awesome God, we will be raised with Him and have glorified bodies and praise and glorify Him for eternity.

Jesus Christ came down to earth to live a perfect life in a ‘messed-up’ world and died on a cross-the epitome of shame!-and rose again three days later to conquer death so we may live forever with Him!

How do I still enjoy the Christmas season?

I love the reason for Christmas! But it’s hard to think of all the things that people will be doing during the holidays while you’re stuck at home. But it really is fun to hang out at home! Here is a few fun ideas to do while at home, either alone or with friends:

  • Learn a new craft-I am learning lots of embroidery this Christmas break!
  • Play fun games with your family or friends! I know my family loves all of the Forbidden Island games, plus Clue, Life, and just simple card games!
  • Read some good books! Christmas break is always a good time to catch up with some great books! I’m reading Adorned by Nancy Demoss Wolgemuth-it’s so good!
  • Watch some Christmas movies! I think Hallmark movies are amazing! Or “Home Alone” 😝
  • Listen to some good podcasts-oh I have so many favorite podcasts! But some of my most favorite ones are “That Sounds Fun” with Annie F. Downs, “The Porch”, and “ESV: Every Day in the Word.”

There’s a lot of hard things that chronic illness add to our lives, but we can also have so much fun-in our own ways.

Keep remembering the Reason for Christmas!

It’s hard around Christmas for chronic illness warriors. But I want to make things special for you all. Comment down below anything about your Christmastime. I want to support you in this season.

Products I talked about in this post!

Love you all so much!

Mackenzie ❤️

Posted in 2k19, Bible Thoughts, thoughts

The REASON for the SEASON!

Posted on by Kenzie S

We are TWO weeks from Christmas! As exciting as that is, I know that we can get caught up in the material things of this season. I do it almost every year. But I want to stop and focus on the greatest gift ever-Jesus Christ, the One and Only Son of God, came down to earth to SAVE us from our sins! 🙌🏼🙌🏼

From now until Christmas, I will be posting a couple of Christmas posts about the true meaning of the season! I am SUPER excited about this. I want to help y’all remember the true reason for the season-the coming of our Savior down to our sinful world to die for our sins and raise to life again so we may live forever in heaven with Him.

I believe that the only way we will not get bogged down but all the stresses of this amazing season is to put our eyes on the REAL reason for this season. Some of us don’t know how we’re going to get through this season. Others are so excited about doing all the Christmas things, but will get SO exhausted by the end of this season.

I am so excited about this short lil’ series! I hope you are blessed by this. It can get crazy around this time of year, and I know I can forget to be thankful for the true reason of Christmas.

Let me know some of your favorite ways to remember the reason for the season! Christmas worship music is my favorite way!🎵🎶❤️

Posted in 2k19, Essential Oil FUN!, Health & Wellness!

My Favorite Ways to Use Essential Oils!

Posted on by Kenzie S

It’s winter, and that great because it’s Christmas season! 🎄🙌🏼 But it also means colds are all around and maybe getting sick. 😩 I have been working on staying healthy and keeping up with my body, and one of my favorite things to do is use essential oils! So in this post I want to let y’all know some of my favorite uses for my favorite oils!

How I Use Essential Oils

I like to put Lavender and Peppermint in a spray bottle with water and spray it on the bottom of my feet. It helps SO many parts of my body. It really helps the swelling on my feet and hands. I also use it on my stomach whenever I get a stomach ache.

Marjoram is my favorite essential oil to put in a bath with epsom salt! It loosens and relaxes my muscles, plus helps my anxiety a LOT. Again, I like to have it in a roller bottle if I have a super tight muscle or spot.

Cedarwood is an oil that I LOVE to use to help my sensory. After a long day, I start getting pretty overwhelmed by the lights and sounds and noises. If I put this on my wrists when I start getting overwhelmed, I start to calm down. I love it and it smells AMAZING!

I also sometimes use Stress Away, a blend of oils from Young Living, on my wrists. It’s a blend of oils which includes Lavender and Cedarwood. It is really amazing!

Citrus Bliss is another oil blend that I love. It has different citrus oils, obviously. It boots my mood and lessens my anxiety and depression.

Last, but probably one of the most important oils, is a blend called OnGuard. This blend helps your health stay strong and is an antibacterial oil. I love to diffuse it in the morning, when I don’t feel the greatest.

Processed with VSCO with p5 preset

I also LOVE to put essential oils in roller bottles and put them on my wrists. This picture is of a Cedarwood roller bottle!

I love to learn about and use more oils, and see how much they help me! My ABSOLUTE favorite way to use oils is to diffuse them. We have a DoTerra Petal Diffuser, and also got a diffuser from Amazon that is super cute and works really well. I’ll link both of them them down below!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NMG1PGG/ref=twister_B0797TWSJ9?_encoding=UTF8&th=1

https://www.doterra.com/US/en/doterra-petal-diffuser

I hope you enjoyed this lil’ overview of my favorite oils! I love to try and use oils in EVERY part of my life! Comment down below your favorite oils and how you use them most!

UPDATE: At the time I wrote this, we were mostly using Doterra Essential Oils. Now, we have switched to Young Living! Want to know why? Check this post out!