I figured after over a year of blog silence, it was time to resurrect this space and once again share my heart with you. 2018 was a really rough year, which I will write about later, but for now, I’d rather focus on looking ahead. My plan moving forward is to consistently post pieces of the Cindy’s Suds story, motherhood, family life, personal life, and the journey of choosing to live more intentionally and naturally.  I would love for you to join me on this venture and I want you to know I hold our little community so near and dear to my heart. Your love and encouragement, your real-life testimonials, your emails and messages to me have keep this little engine pushing forward, even when life got hard. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Today, I’m taking you back to the beginning. Back to my “why”. Back to the reason why I had this heart and mind shift that would ultimately lead me down the path to create Cindy’s Suds. Back almost 20 years ago.

Back to my reason why...

I became a mom.

I don’t know about you, but life before kids was pretty easy. I only had “me” to think about. That changed to “we” after my husband and I got married in 1998. I worked, he worked, but overall, our decisions were fairly simple. When we had our daughter in January of 2000, everything changed. No longer were we responsible for just ourselves, but this precious little baby the Lord had entrusted us with. Every decision was now filtered through my heart as to how it would affect our daughter.

Fast forward a few years, and we found ourselves driving home from the hospital with baby number three on our 5th wedding anniversary. Three babies in five years. I know some of you can beat that, but honestly, many of those early years are a blur.

My middle son was not quite one when I found out I was pregnant with our third. Around that time, he began to develop patchy spots of eczema. He would scratch and scratch at those itchy spots and would often wake up with bloody legs and thighs from scratching in his sleep.

Because of my training in western medicine as a Physician Assistant, my knee jerk reaction was supposed to be “put steroid cream on it.”.  But my momma’s heart knew otherwise. My momma’s heart knew that would be the worst thing for my son who already had very sensitive and thin skin. My momma’s heart knew that steroids, though occasionally necessary for acute situations, was just going to act as a band-aid for what was truly going on beneath his skin. My momma’s heart knew that my son’s skin would absorb anything and everything I put on it. My heart knew there had to be a different option.

So I began to research. In a time where the internet was intended for the rare email, not google searches or facebook posts asking for advice, I headed to the library and hit the books. I spent hours reading up on natural skin care, why herbs worked, and which recipes and combinations produced the greatest healing.

Ultimately, and through much trial and error, I made a product that you now know as Healing Salve. As I began to apply it to my son’s eczema, his skin not only improved, but it literally began to heal within a matter of days!! Despite all my research and reading testimonials from people who swore by herbs and oils, I was shocked that this whole natural thing really worked!  I had been taught there was no use for natural products within the realm of western medicine, but here he was, living proof that his eczema could be cleared with products I made in my kitchen! I was humbled and thrilled that I had truly found a natural alternative to treat my son, instead of believing that pharmaceuticals were the only way.

That was over 15 years ago and I haven’t looked back. In fact, creating that first “product” (aka just a solution to a need at that time), led me to ask other questions like, “What else can I do?” and “What else can I make to keep his skin healthy?” At that time, I started to inventory every product we used on our family. We had so many “baby” products that had been gifted to us by well meaning friends and family. Baby Shampoo, Bubble Bath, Baby Lotion, Baby Powder… the ingredients were so scary! And these products were marketed for babies!! There had to be natural products I could make that would be a safe and effective substitute.

So, I began making natural alternatives to the toxic bath and body products we had been using. I made super moisturizing, healthy soap that smelled wonderful.  I swapped out store bought lotions with our super emollient cream, now known as Body Butter. No longer did the kids get chemical laden bubble baths, but therapeutic and skin healthy oatmeal or sea salt baths. Yep. I had become one of those moms!

As you can imagine, I ended up with a lot of… surplus! So, I would give extra Soap, Healing Salve and Body Butter to family and friends as gifts. And with every gift, I would get a new testimonial. Every person who tried our products would give their own version of how using them had helped their skin in some way.  I was blown away! I was encouraged over and over again to start a company so I could make a difference in the lives of other families.

So, I stepped out in faith, trusting that God had been in this whole process all along. That maybe this was something more than just meeting one of my kiddos needs. That maybe other moms and families were looking for all natural and chemical free alternatives, just like I had been.

Soon enough, I left my job as a Physician’s Assistant and dove in head first to what you now know as Cindy’s Suds! Following my heart as a mom and following my heart to create this business are two sides of the same coin. I also loved working as a PA and I’m so thankful that I’m still in the business of helping people, which really is what life is all about.

I’m so thankful you took the time to read my Cindy’s Suds story, and I’m so grateful that you have chosen Cindy’s Suds to be a part of YOUR family!

XO

Cindy