Dawn Camp

June’s Desktop Calendar & Thoughts on the Golden Rule

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A few years ago we planted two magnolia trees, one on each side of our front yard. I remember the large magnolia whose branches hung low over the wooden fence of my childhood home and how people sometimes knocked at our door and asked to cut a few blooms for a wedding. I wanted some of that lemon-sweet southern comfort at this home too, where we’ve lived for almost 15 years.

The tree on the east side of our yard has grown tall and fair, with fragrant blooms from top to bottom. The one on the west side, now dwarfed by two trees who’ve outgrown it, is much smaller and currently has only two blooms, drooping near the ground.

We’re told to bloom where we’re planted: to live and thrive in our unique location and circumstances. But my magnolias show me externals do make a difference. What attitudes have I absorbed from the culture, pervasive as this honeyed scent in the air? How do I filter which beliefs take root in me?

Can we chose the family, the zip code, the ethnicity, or the financial status into which we are born? Of course not. But we do make choices that impact us and those around us.

{Interestingly, hardship can grow a person like my east-facing magnolia while apathy can stunt us like its sister-tree, a few yards away.}

There’s a reason Jesus’ words at the Sermon on the Mount, to do unto others as you would have them do unto you, are known as the Golden Rule and not the Golden Suggestion. How we treat others is a defining piece of our humanity.

Acts 10:34-35 tells us God is no respecter of persons: that He views us without partiality or favoritism. Thank you, Lord!

Let us examine our hearts daily and treat others with the same respect and dignity with which we wish to be treated.

Download June’s Desktop Calendar

Enjoy!

DIY Insect Repellant

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Spring has arrived but unfortunately so have the insects! If you’d like to enjoy the outdoors with fewer pests, try this DIY insect repellent using natural, plant-based ingredients. No DEET!

When I made individual spray bottles for my teens to take to camp one summer, they said girls asked to borrow it to wear as a perfume. It smells that good!

DIY Insect Repellant

  • 6 drops Young Living Citronella oil
  • 1 drop Young Living Rosemary oil
  • 1 drop Young Living Geranium oil
  • 1 drop Young Living Spearmint oil
  • 1 drop Young Living Thyme oil
  • 1 drop Young Living Clove oil

Combine oils in a 2 oz. glass spray bottle and fill the remaining 2/3 of the bottle with distilled water and 1/3 with witch hazel. Shake well before using and spray on feet, legs, and arms to keep away the critters!

Want to learn more about essential oils and the products my family uses? View this easy online class or visit my oils page!

Going Through the Five Stages of Grief in a Global Pandemic

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In the ten and a half years I’ve written for (in)courage, never have I thought so much about how the world in general — and admittedly my world in particular — could change between the day I submit my words and the day you read them. 

Life under a shelter-at-home order feels a little like the five stages of grief but in no predictable order. My husband, children, and I seem to be in different stages at different times. 

Our youngest daughter is firmly planted in stages one and two: denial and anger. At fourteen, I think her reaction stems from annoyance that her world has been turned upside down and from the fear she’s seen in me. The measures I take to clean groceries delivered to our home seem ridiculous and extreme to her. It must be unsettling to realize the people who’ve always protected you are no longer sure they can. If the coronavirus stood before her in tangible form, I have no doubt she would beat it senseless.

Our two other teens resort to something that resembles stage three: bargaining.

It reminds me of a typical parent/teen conversation: “Don’t worry, I won’t have an accident” — to which we reply, “No one plans to have an accident or they wouldn’t be called accidents.” 

They think promising not to get too close to people will make everything okay and that their good intentions can protect them. They believe it too. And I have to be the one to remind them that the virus has infected lots of careful people with good intentions. I hate it.

Initially, I threw myself into isolation with the gusto of an Enneagram 3 who could buckle down and work without the distraction of outside commitments. I moved my blog to a new host. I started building a website for my new book. With no morning appointments, I easily slid deeper into my natural night owl tendencies. 

Before long, I was staying up most of the night and having trouble sleeping. I worked a lot but desperately needed rest. As the days trickled by, I realized what really kept me awake at night: fear.

Please join me today at (in)courage for the rest of the story!

May’s Desktop Calendar & Why You Don’t Have to be Ashamed of How You Feel Right Now

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May's Desktop Calendar

Chances are, some of you feel guilty about how you feel at this point in this global pandemic. We couldn’t have predicted it, we weren’t prepared for it, and it can feel like we’re winging it day by day.

We know the stakes are high, but much of the information is contradictory.

Our collective reaction has varied. We’ve shared homeschooling tips, virtual museum tours, sourdough bread recipes, and the best shows to binge. But as time goes on, we’re thinking about next steps and what to do in both the near and foreseeable future.

Opinions are very different: if you venture back out into society, you knowingly endangering others, or if you feel safer staying home, you’re näive and willing to sacrifice your freedoms.

It’s hard to win.

But no one should make you feel ashamed of how you’re handling this. Pat yourself on the back if you washed your hair this week, put on shoes, sat in a chair and read all day, or went outside in the sunshine and took a walk.

You can also pat yourself on the back if you bought a book or took an online class and learned to do something you’ve always wanted to do, remodeled your kitchen, spring cleaned your house, or started writing the great Amerian novel.

It’s all good.

If you’ve studied the five love languages, the enneagram, or differences in learning styles, you understand that we are not all wired the same. People have different responses to the same situation and that’s okay.

I’m an enneagram 3 who is wired for productivity. I’m also a movie buff who thinks I have to earn the right to sit in front of the TV. Since I have no outside appointments and a small business and writing projects to fill my time, I’ve been an uninterrupted working machine for nearly two months. This means I have no qualms about watching a movie every evening or bingeing The Flash, my new addiction (it’s on Netflix).

In many ways I’m in a sweet spot and don’t feel compelled to leave home. Costco’s same-day delivery service may be my greatest discovery of 2020. Am I concerned about my family’s safety? Yes. It took me weeks to put faith over fear since my husband goes to work five days a week in a building with 22 other people.

Should I be ashamed to choose what feels comfortable for me and my family right now? No, and neither should you.

My mother was in poor physical health most of my life, from childhood until she passed away on my 38th birthday. We were close and I witnessed how deeply her life was marked by pain and struggle. Subsequently, I have an unnatural fear of being sick (and people who know me well know I hate to be afraid of anything).

Good or bad, experience informs our perception.

Please tell me, how are you? I pray you and your people are healthy, safe, and thriving in this time, whatever that looks like for you.

Download May’s Desktop Calendar

This photo comes from a visit to Young Living’s farm in Mona, Utah, where I photographed several images for my upcoming book, It All Began in a Garden.

Enjoy!

Want to learn more about essential oils? Check out this Essential Oils 101 class and let me know if I can answer any questions or help you get started with oils!