Joy

JOY is the third buoy to safe harbor that we'll talk about during this breast cancer awareness month.  Joy will buoy your spirit and life to a healthy, happy and whole place. For those overcoming breast cancer, finding a little joy each day is an essential daily requirement.
We've found a few simple sources of random joy that can brighten even the weariest of days and we'd like to pass a few on to you right here.

Get out in the sun!
Yes, just stepping out into the sunshine will do wonders for your countenance and, as it turns out, for your health as well. According to Dr. Mercola, the vitamin D that you'll soak up in just a 10-15 minute period can be extremely healing to your whole body, lower your blood pressure and interfere with breast cancer's ability to spread.  Just take a quick look at some of the other benefits of sunshine in this article by Dr. Mercola:  Dr. Mercola on Vitamin D
Another article by Dr. Veronique Desaulniers points out that an 83% reduction in breast cancer occurred when the vitamin D level in the blood was doubled to 50ngml: Dr. V on Vitamin D

So, just stepping out into the sunshine can increase your vitamin D level and start you down a healthier path!  Obviously, a little vitamin D supplementation will need to go along with that sunshine exposure and both Dr. V and Dr. Mercola offer vitamin D suggestions on their sites.  We hope you check these info links out and treat yourself to a little time in the sunshine today.

Laugh!
Yep, just a simple laugh!  It's more powerful that you can imagine. 
According to WedMD. a good laugh can boost your immune system, positively affect blood sugar levels and improve your sleep at night.  So, pull out those old funny movies, joke books and stories that make you belly laugh.  Or just share some light-hearted moments with cute, little ones or people who make you smile.  You'll find some other great health benefits of laughing right here: WebMD on Laughing Benefits

Chocolate!
Mmm... did someone say chocolate?  Yes, you read that right!  In moderation, a little bit of quality chocolate is quite beneficial and will certainly bring a little joy into your day.  Yum! 
Aim for dark chocolate that has a high cacao content for the greatest benefits.  One of our favorite chocolate companies is the Lily brand found at Whole Foods.  Since it's made with stevia, there are no sugar concerns here, just-sheer-chocolate-joy! We bet your antioxidant levels are going up just thinking about this little bar!  For an additional boost, read about some of the amazing health benefits of chocolate right here:  Dr. Axe on Chocolate

Since we're tossing out random ideas on sources of joy, we'll wrap up with one last idea today.  

Try something new!
When you are on a healing journey for your health, it's amazing how trying something new will expand your horizons and bring in unexpected joy. We recently tried something quite new and the health benefits have been amazing, so we'll chat about it here for a moment.  After reading about the remarkable health benefits of a hyperbaric-oxygen chamber, we stepped into one for the first time at Lyfewell, right here in Johns Creek, Georgia!  Oh, if you are on a healing journey, you need to stop by this place!  The hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) and the pulsed electromagnetic field therapy (PEMF) increase oxygen levels, enhance blood flows and bring scientifically-proven restorative health benefits to the body.  Yes, you'll begin to notice a nice positive change after a few sessions and you'll be glad you tried something new and so beneficial.  Take a few moments to learn more about this interesting treatment at their site: Lyfewell  

These are just a few of the random sources of joy we've experienced lately.  We hope you'll share some of your little joys, (your "buoys of joy"), that have perhaps brought you into a safer harbor on your healing journey.  We'd love to hear from you and be inspired! 

We've got the joy, joy, joy, joy...down in our hearts,
The Velvet Lime Girls

HOPE

Today we're continuing our focus on Breast Cancer Awareness month with another buoy of hope.

Wouldn't it be great if you could find a way to REALLY detect the earliest stages of breast cancer?  You know, long before a mammogram catches it? A mammogram can certainly detect a suspicious area, but how great would it be to know much earlier and begin an effective healing protocol?  Well, there IS such a test and it is called a thermogram.  The chart below sums up the differences between these two types of tests:


This short video clip of Dr. Veronique Desaulniers discussing thermography sheds a little more light on the benefits of thermography versus mammography: 
Dr. V on Thermography

And this article by Dr. Jockers sums up other benefits of thermograms:
Dr. Jockers on Thermograms

One of the places we've found to have a thermogram done in the Atlanta area is through Atlanta Mobile Thermography.  The technicians are great, and your report will be reviewed by a panel of doctors and then discussed with you.  Each week the thermograms are available in several locations around Atlanta.  Check out their Facebook page to see if a location is near you this week: 
Atlanta Mobile Thermography Facebook

For those of you outside the Atlanta area, this site can direct you to an accredited thermography center near you: Thermography Centers

If you're wondering about the validity of thermograms, take a quick look at this link from Atlanta Mobile Thermography. (The first segment is much of the same info presented above, but scroll down for additional info.)  Thermography Info

We hope you'll take the time to educate yourself on the benefits of thermography and set up an appointment for your first thermogram! You'll be glad you did!

Sending you hope,
The Velvet Lime Girls
"Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do!" Proverbs 4:7 TLB

Safe Harbor

A safe harbor.  Sometimes that's all you need.  A place to restore, revive and renew yourself.  As we launch into Breast Cancer Awareness Month this month, we'll be identifying some life-lines, buoys and safe harbor suggestions for those  who are navigating the rough waters of a breast cancer diagnosis.  Pass this on to anyone you know facing breast cancer.  It's rough seas out there for many of them, but they can ease into calmer waters with the right compass and buoys. We'll be talking about some of these buoys this month and we look forward to you coming aboard with us.

We know what it's like to be tossed into the overwhelming, tumultuous, open seas of a breast cancer diagnosis.  One of the Velvet Lime Girls, Laura, faced this diagnosis in June of 2015 and everything changed here in our little studio.  The seas were just-pretty-darn-rough for awhile, with our anchor in God holding us down and averting a major shipwreck.  There's just SO much to process with a diagnosis of breast cancer.  Do you go the conventional route? Alternative route? A combination route? What DO you do???  One thing is for sure ... you can't ignore it.  You're in a storm and you need some direction.  You need buoys that will guide you into a safe harbor.  We found some! And when you find buoys that help, you just want to yell out at the top of your lungs, over the crashing waves, to everyone out there adrift in the sea, "We found help!  Here are some buoys to safe harbor!"
So, that's what we're going to do.  We're going to yell out and point you in the direction of a few buoys we've found helpful along the way.  

Our first beautiful buoy is a site called Breast Cancer Conqueror.  
Whether you choose a conventional, alternative or a combination route to overcome breast cancer,  you'll find a treasure of resources, support and compassion here.  It's a great place to start if you just don't even know where to begin.  As their site says,  you'll learn to "Never Fear Breast Cancer Again."  The founder, Dr. Veronique Desaulniers, healed her own breast cancer naturally and documented the journey in her book, Heal Breast Cancer Naturally.  Along the way she left a trail of research-backed medical studies and resources that make this book a big, bright buoy, helping women on their healing journeys and guiding women who want to prevent getting breast cancer.  Go get the book today for yourself and then get one for your daughters, your mothers, and the friends you love.  It's been the biggest buoy out there for Laura and we know it will help guide you into safe waters.  Check out the heart of the healing program right here in this video: 7 Essentials Program. 

We'll be sharing several other buoys during this Breast Cancer Awareness month and we would like to hear your stories of the lifelines and guiding systems you have used to navigate your course through the rough seas of a breast cancer diagnosis.  Remember, you have a voice and you can use your story to help someone else who may be in distress.  So use your voice and help us tell others about the
buoys that can lead to safe harbor.

"My help and glory are in God - granite-strength and safe-harbor God." Psalms 62:7 

Smooth sailing ahead,
The Velvet Lime Girls

Strength in a Squeeze

 Breast Cancer Awareness Month series.

When you're facing a challenge with your health like breast cancer, life can begin to feel a bit squeezed, and like our beautiful flower in the graphic above, whose petals appear to be pressed up against the top and sides of her world, the pressures that surround you may be squeezing in on your life.  
But, if you take a closer look at this flower, she's actually flourishing. She's just continuing to grow and bloom, even with the sides pressing up against her.  Why, she looks as if she's out in a wide open field, letting her petals unfurl and dance in the breeze!  And it's all because of the source of life WITHIN her.
God can do that for you.  He can become that source of life, that "river of life",  that flows continually, flooding your life with newfound sources of strength, help and peace. Even in the midst of a health crisis.  We know this from firsthand experience and you can read our story in our October 1st blog. Because we understand the challenge of breast cancer,  we know that there is a greater power at work in the lives of those who know God and allow Him to come into their lives.
We want to encourage you to get to know Him, to begin to walk through life with Him, to begin to let Him live within you, right in the midst of your "squeezed world".  
When you walk with God through a tight spot, you'll begin to slip through life with thoughts like this:
God is with me, I will not fall. God will help me.  He'll be a refuge and strength in times of  trouble. (paraphrased from Psalm 46)

And then like us, you'll just press-up against verses like this when you're squeezed:
"It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!"

Praying for God's strength to be in you today,
The Velvet Lime Girls 

Today's resources:
Thermograms are a safe way to monitor your breast health and this article by Dr. Christiane Northrup discusses the benefits: Thermograms

A thermography team we've worked with: 
Mobile Thermographic Imaging

Healing Scriptures - Dodie Osteen


Previous resources:
Breast Cancer Conqueror
50 Healing Verses

The Truth About Cancer

Prayers for Healing

Strong Spirit
(A great message to build you up in your spirit)

It Is Well With My Soul - Bethel Music

Monday Mornings

Hello Monday Morning.  Sometimes Monday's just come a little faster than you expected and for those of you who we are honoring this month, in this National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Mondays can be challenging.  There may be tests ahead, decisions to make, protocol to follow, plans that have to change, the list could go on, but Monday is a day when you're often face with lots of decisions...and you can just decide to LOOK UP.  Believe us, looking up... looking up in faith to God, can make the rest of the week so much better.  We know from firsthand experience and you can read our breast cancer overcoming story in our October 1st blog.

Just like the Grace-Graphic© above says, we know that:
worry looks around, fear looks back and faith looks up.  We've learned that as rough and raw as a Monday may be, you'll have a point where you can CHOOSE to look up to God.  A point where you can choose to change the course of the day, and it begins in your heart.  You just have to LOOK UP and ask God for strength, help, wisdom, peace, encouragement or whatever you need at the moment.  He's right here with you. 

“Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.” Deuteronomy 31:6

Just let this passage above sink into your soul.  God says He's right here with you, He won't let you down, He won't leave you.  We've been known to say this passage out loud several times a day and "take" it like we'd take medicine.  Because God's words are medicine... they're healing.

We hope you'll start your Monday off thinking about the passage above, the graphic we are sending you today and the strength (that God can give) to LOOK UP in Faith.

Praying for the strength you need today,
The Velvet Lime Girls 

Here's a little song to kick off your Monday.  
Praise Song - Hezekiah Walker

Previous resources mentioned:
Breast Cancer Conqueror

50 Healing Verses

It Is Well With My Soul - Bethel Music


Prayers for Healing


Strong Spirit


The Truth About Cancer

Strength

We're continuing our focus today on the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month by giving you a Grace-Graphic © to encourage yourself, or someone you know, who may be facing a breast cancer challenge. 

Please share.

Strength. Stamina. Tenacity. These are three essential elements you're just going to need to overcome the challenge of breast cancer.  If you do it in your own strength, you'll have a measure of success for awhile, but when you let God's strength infuse you, you'll begin to live life as an overcomer. We know this is possible from first-hand experience and if you missed our story yesterday, take time to read our October 1st post.

 We know what it's like to need strength, to need stamina, to need tenacity.

When you need these things and you just can't seem to muster them up yourself, even with all the therapies, protocol, doctors, positive-thinking, good diet, exercise and every supplement known to mankind, you finally come to the end of yourself and realize that you have one remaining option:
RISE UP and PRAY.

Yes, just rise up and pray.  And the minute you step into a prayer, God's presence and power will begin to infuse your life. A  prayer will open the door for the strength you need.  It will open the door for God to come in and begin to help you.  To wrap His arms around you with peace, comfort you with assurance, give you direction and usher in healing. 

So take a little time or a lot of time today and just pray to God.  Talk with God. LISTEN to God. He's probably been waiting to spend some time with you. 

Here are a few ways Laura has let God infuse His strength into her on her healing journey. We hope you'll tap into some of these resources today:
IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL _ BETHEL MUSIC
(Just skip the ad and enjoy the words of the song)

Prayers for Healing
(Encouraging prayers and words of healing)

Strong Spirit
(A great message to build you up in your spirit)


The Truth About Cancer
This last resource is an informative site filled with practical tips on how to build up your immune system, overcome cancer and live life fully. (Get your notebook out :-)

Heartfelt prayers for YOU today,
The Velvet Lime Girls


Previous resources:
Breast Cancer Conqueror
50 Healing Verses

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

It's the pink month.  Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  We'd like to honor and encourage the women (and men) who are facing the challenge of breast cancer this month.  Our endeavor is not something we've approached with a casual, lighthearted attitude, because, for those facing this challenge, the days can be rough, raw and insurmountable.
We know.
We understand.
We really understand, because one of us is currently overcoming breast cancer.
Yes, you read it right.  One of us is currently OVERCOMING breast cancer. Although all three of us feel as if we have been fighting, standing, believing, and praying over this challenge, it is Laura who is on the healing journey. Together though, we've reached that place of rest and trust, where you just know that God has heard your prayers and is moving on your behalf.

Marybeth created a graphic affirmation for Laura 
every-single-morning during the first part of her healing journey and we learned how powerful God's Word can be in lifting away discouragement. This month we'd like to pass along a few of these graphic encouragements to you, to lift you up or share with someone you know who is facing a breast cancer diagnosis.  We'll also be including a few resources and links that Laura has found helpful in her healing journey.

Today's grace-graphic confronts one of the biggest challenges you'll need to overcome when facing a breast cancer diagnosis. FEAR.  Even if you don't think you'll ever be able to overcome fear, you need to know, it can be overcome.  And when you overcome fear you'll be able to live life with ease... free from "dis-ease".

Praying for you today,
The Velvet Lime Girls

Today's resource links are for everyone!  Whether you're a breast cancer survivor, or in the early stages of breast cancer and looking for a more natural way to heal your body, or simply want to educate yourself on ways to prevent breast cancer, take a look at Dr. Véronique DeSaulniers' Facebook page. It is a continual source of practical tips and medically-based studies that will help you in your healing journey.  Laura is currently working with "Dr. V's" coaching team and highly recommends the program:
Breast Cancer Conqueror

Dr. V also has a great book: Heal Breast Cancer Naturally

The last resource is one Laura has found most helpful.
It's a daily diet of healing scriptures. There's not a therapy, vitamin or nutraceutical that can take fear out of your life, but God can. And if you let yourself just listen to His Words about healing, a transformation will begin to take place in your body. (Just skip the ad that pops up and soak in the healing words.)
Healing Scriptures

"Don't panic. I'm with you. There's no need to fear for I'm your God. I'll give you strength. I'll help you.  I'll hold you steady, keep an firm grip on you."  Isaiah 41:10