Hi! My name is Angie, the face behind Lavender & Honey. If you landed here, you are about to get the uncut version of how I ended up here and why I now do what I do. I'll admit this post was a difficult one for me to write. It is one that leaves me very vulnerable to the world and judgment. But it is one that God continues to prompt me to tell, so here it is...
I will not bother you with all the gritty details of my childhood and each and every struggle - that would be a novel- not a blog post. Or how I became what I became, or debate if I was born this way or life circumstances made me this way. It does not matter. It is my story, and it has made me who I am today. The jist is that there was much illness, trauma, and family dysfunction. What is essential today is if sharing my story helps you in some way, big or small, it was all well worth the risk of every reader's potential judgment. I truly believe God takes our pain and hardships and uses them for good. And He has most definitely used mine for good, and because of it, I wouldn't change a thing.
People from my past did not know the real me, just as those who meet me today would never fathom my past. I did a decent job at making my life look pretty to those on the outside looking in. My husband and I both held college degrees and careers as nurses. We had three amazing sons and a beautiful home. Everything looked beautiful, that is until it all came crashing down on us.
The problem was that no matter what I accomplished, gained, or completed. I still had a hole inside me that I could not fill. Secretly I was broken and dying inside. Only those closest to me could see some of my pain and suffered along with me as they helplessly watched me move closer and closer to self-destruction.
My entire life, even before any of the traumas, I suffered from illnesses, allergies, chronic ear infections that brought many surgeries, along with severe depression and anxiety. As a small child, I can't remember a length of time where I wasn't consumed by stress, fear, and wanting to die. Throughout my life, the more doctors I saw and the more procedures and surgeries I had brought more prescriptions, issues, and side effects. The one thing I did discover was that I did like the ones that seemed to numb not just my physical pain but also my emotional pain. I continued to get worse both physically and emotionally. At one point, I was so unhealthy and on so many prescriptions that I was borderline diabetic, suffered from high blood pressure, my liver enzymes were elevated, and I was addicted to some of the drugs prescribed to me. Nothing was helping anymore.
In my 30s, everything finally caught up to me. My life and my body were falling apart. I looked at myself and really saw me. I was desperate for change. I couldn't go on living like this but had no clue how to go about it or even start.
I had a close friend who was always chattering about different plants, essential oils, and their benefits. I always politely listened, but skeptical me found it silly, to be quite honest. I did not believe these green plants she was always pointing out in the dirt could really do anything. And if they could, I highly doubted it was anything much or very impressive. I envisioned herbs and oils as some “witchery” that just really didn’t work. Also, I started out as a Veterinary Technician, then later switched paths and was a nurse in the NICU. Both careers led me personally to trust only in pharmaceutical remedies and procedures, not in nature. The combination made me a cynic. But like I said, I was to the point of desperation, and even though I felt silly, I started asking her about some of these plants and what the herbs could be used for. The next week she returned bearing gifts—samples of lavender and other oils, stating that they should help.
The result? The most fantastic night of sleep (I was a chronic insomniac) and some relief from my stress and anxiety! I never felt a reprieve like this without feeling foggy or numb from medications. But I felt peace, rested, and refreshed! I couldn't recall ever feeling this good! That had me intrigued and I had to find out how it’d worked so well. I went down the rabbit hole of natural wellness. I began researching the benefits of natural products and medicines and discovered something remarkable. God, in His infinite wisdom, already created what was needed to support our bodies and promote balance. I have been studying ever since.
The more I learned, the more apparent it became that I needed to change my current lifestyle. I was shocked when I realized what kind of ingredients were in so many everyday products and foods. Toxins, carcinogens, and harsh synthetic chemicals. These components can irritate the skin and even cause or exacerbate skin conditions, hormone imbalances, cancers, and more. Now fully aware, I became frustrated trying to find products free of these harmful ingredients. Even ones that claimed to be "natural" were not really. I began making skincare and holistic products for myself, my family, then friends. When anyone came to me with an issue, I’d search for a natural option and then create a product with natural ingredients. The response was incredible, and the clients grew. From there, Lavender and Honey was born - a full line of herbal skincare, body care, and holistic products. Five years later, this had grown as well to offering dried herbs, an herbal tea line, raw honey and herbal infused honey, and even wellness consultations. I pride myself on creating personal care products from 100% natural, wildcrafted, and organic ingredients. I never uses items containing synthetics or derivatives. Furthermore, my handcrafted organic soap, skin, and body care products are made in small artisan batches, allowing for a level of freshness and quality not found in mass-produced brands.
I permanently left the nursing field, but feel I have come full circle back to being a healer, only with those silly little plants growing in the dirt and in doing wellness consultations! And oh, have I learned just how impressive they are! Extraordinary and life changing actually! Today I do not take a single prescription, I am healthier than I have ever been in every aspect, and I am living the life I could never have dreamed possible for myself. I do hope that if you are skeptical as I was that you will also give them a try. I'm pretty confident you will be impressed as well. And if you are already well versed in natural health and wellness and are just looking for some guidance or excellent "for real" natural products, I am so honored you chose to stop by my humble little corner in the woods to check me out and hopefully give my services and products a try if you haven't yet. You won't be disappointed!
Blessings and wellness,
Angie
