What in the World Are We Doing??

I am sure that we are all familiar with the above advertisements selling perfume to the masses (mainly women) ... although men are also becoming regular users of the various fragrances sold by movie stars, musicians and design houses. We are subtly sold the lie that some-how wearing these fragrances will make us more desirable or they will be the crowning glory to the image we ourselves are creating and projecting to the world.
The last 48 hrs have been really trying for me ... I have learned an extremely important lesson, and once again I am grateful to YHVH for His faithfulness and for leading me to a place of taking more off and leaving it far behind :o)

On Monday morning I decided to try a perfume that my mom had given to Rachel, who in turn did not like the fragrance and so she passed it on to me ... it has a really pleasant smell ... so I decided to give it a go. This is where it gets interesting ... within 5 minutes of trying the fragrance I started experiencing heart palpitations and really started feeling quite ill. I immedietely made the association between symptoms and fragrance, but wondered if this was indeed possible ... maybe this was something else?? I decided to wash the fragrance off ... but throughout the day I felt really bad with the heart palpitations constantly there. The palpitaions lasted throughout the night and throughout the whole of Tuesday. I decided to give my GP a visit, only to find out that he will only be back in his rooms as of next year. At this point I was really starting to get concerned. Many people told me that there is no way that perfume could do this including our pharmacist. But we know our bodies, and YHVH kept on witnessing inside of me that it was indeed the perfume that had triggered some kind of allergic response. He urged me to trust Him ... to walk this through ... that He would bring me through this. There were moments that I felt really afraid ...
Praise YHVH ... throughout last night I felt the symptoms lifting and my heart beat returning to normal :o)  This morning I feel soooo much better. But I have definately learned a very big lesson! My husband and I decided to google the effects of perfume entering the blood stream and were REALLY shocked by all that we read. One well known brand is known to contain over 800 compounds that are toxic to the human body!! Rachel and I decided that as an exercise today, we would look up all the individual ingredients in these perfumes ... let me just say .... the result??? We have had a major clean-out!! (Rachel will be doing a more in depth post on these toxic ingredients on her blog Peculiar Treasures). Some of these ingredients are known to cause cancer .. liver and kidney failure... respiratory disorders etc etc etc the list goes on and on. I have now come face to face with the dangers of these various toxins and  have repented to being careless with what I have allowed not only in my body .. but what I use or spray on my body!
This is a lesson I am so grateful for. Not only am I perhaps wiser in an area I was not before - but, my trust in YHVH is refreshed and restored and this morning my heart is stable and in continuous worship!! The only after effect I seem to have today is a headache!! I suppose with the toxins leaving the body this is to be expected.
Here are a couple of links that I found interesting:
Perfumes and chemical sensitivity
chemicals and toxins in cosmetics

I am finding that there are many things that the world has packaged as 'harmless' and 'necessary' that YHVH is busy cleaning and removing out of the lives of His set apart people ... the journey continues :o)

Blessings and Shalom

Gray Is Beautiful?

I woke up this morning and I am sure that there are a few more gray hairs visible today than  yesterday :o)  Maybe not ... maybe today is just one of those days where I have to remind myself that growing older does not necessarily mean growing old :o) that acceptance of the natrual evolution of the ageing process that our Father has ordained for us contributes to the wealth of the spirit and shines through the windows of the soul!
If I consider all the money that I have wasted trying to achieve the 'perfect' colour for me, or the hours wasted in the salon having streaks put into my hair .. when YHVH already gave me the perfect colour just for me, and is now blessing me with streaks all for free :o)
In the book of Proverbs gray hair is esteemed as a crown of glory. Isn't it wonderful to see a mature woman who walks in elegant assuredness as she adorns herself with her natural crown of glory? On some days though I think we all need a little assurance that graying hair is just the next stage in the maturing of our beauty. The beauty of youth is represented by blondes, brunettes, red-heads and every shade in-between, this same beauty never dies but is simply transformed into the deeper beauty that gray hair signifies. Wisdom gained from life lessons and spiritual growth in Torah and our relationship with our Father, a life lived sensibly and in righteousness is all evidenced by the crown of glory that is a testimony to this incredible journey that we are on.
It is sad that the glory of gray hair which our Creator has blessed us with is being suffocated in the days in which we live.  More and more women believing the lie that they cannot and must not be satisfied with who they are or might become ...  not only dye but also nip, tuck, inject and implant.
May we, the daughters of YHVH, accept the beautiful gift that we may already or are in the process of possessing and may we very much look forward to attaining it in its fullness.
I encourage you and myself to wear our gray hair with a smile ..... your beauty will shine through as you bring glory to the One who gave it to you.

Blessings