Some of you might be wondering what we are we really doing on this extended European trip.
The answer is, we don’t know! Is it a vacation? Sort of. A time to rest, yes. Is it a homeschooling opportunity? Absolutely. The experiences our children are having over these 3 months are priceless and will for sure shape their adulthood in some way.
More than that, it is a time that we believe God has given us to pursue more intently what He would like us to focus our lives around for our next season. We feel immense gratitude for the opportunity to do what we are doing. We could only do this through our doTERRA income. We built this business to have this kind of freedom. But in the last 5 years, we have been bogged down by life - some of our own choices and some not (my Hashimoto’s diagnosis and Aston’s sever allergies). We lost sight of what our God-given purpose is here on earth, and were merely going through the motions.
Maybe you have felt that too. The pandemic put a lot of us in survival-type/joyless living.
But that kind of living isn’t what Jesus died for. He died for our salvation (our eternity), yes, but he died for our freedom here on earth as well. We were created to enjoy life and be a light to others.
Damian and I needed to find that fire again. That reason we do what we do. Because our mission is more than just “selling oils.” We are using this time to seek and listen to God, to be clear in our path moving forward. And we don’t know for sure where that will be. We are expecting God to speak to us, to feel peace and confidence in our spirits about where to live and what our message truly is.
So yes, this is a magical experience. It is a blessing beyond compare. But we didn’t get here by chance.
- Damian had a significant encounter with God in Nov 2022.
- God changed my heart towards moving out of California in May 2022.
- We decided to check out Florida as a place to live.
- When arriving, we saw a church sign in Sarasota that said, “Sell everything,” which confirmed what we were feeling.
- The next night Damian had the idea if we sold our house, we could spend extended time in Italy.
- 10 days later, a random stranger, at DisneyWorld, without knowing any of our ideas, told us how she moved from Westlake Village to Texas, but first took a 4 month trip to Italy in between!
- After many months of prayer, we decided to sell our house.
- It sold on Jan 8, 2024.
- We planned our trip and left California for Europe on Feb 20, 2024.
- Here we are, on my 40th birthday, in Italy, March 29, 2024.
It is the experience of a lifetime, but we gave up everything to be here. I don’t know if there ever is a blessing that doesn’t require sacrifice. We don’t know what God will do in the next several months (we don’t even know where we will be sleeping come July 1), but we do know God put it on our hearts to be here, we want to follow Him always, and we know He has good things in store for all of His people!