Sometimes I Write

I am part of an amazing group of women. They are my discussion group of BSF friends. Every week I am uplifted and challenged by these women. We are from different church denominations across Wichita and we each bring something unique to the group. They aren’t all like me, and I like that. They aren’t all moms of preschoolers, minister’s wives, homeschoolers, long-time Christians with church baggage, or even under 35. We all come together with the one thing in common that matters…we love the Lord and have a desire to know Him more. Our leader, Dixie, keeps things running smoothly which is no easy job with a bunch of women who like to talk! Our discussions are lively and thought provoking, and I feel at home with these women I hardly know.

Today we had a fellowship. Once a month we bring a sack lunch and meet to eat and visit at one of the ladies homes. It is a bit structured, like BSF, but I like that too. We meet for one hour, but today I stayed a little later to visit with Kris. (We were at her home.) I find such comfort, acceptance, and prayer support from these ladies. I seem to soak it up like a dry sponge. Today they had encouragement for me as they keep tabs on our Dry Bones adventure. They also had advice and information for me about Pete’s allergy issues (next paragraph) and where to find the whole foods he can eat. This room full of my sisters in Christ was warm and friendly in a way that my church family is not. I don’t mean to slam the ladies at my church – there are a few there that try to care for my heart, but I haven’t found the connections that I had hoped to find there. I don’t know if it’s the isolation of ministers wives thing, or if I put off this vibe of self-sufficiency, or if they just don’t know how to have the kind of fellowship that I need. Anyway, we closed our lunch out in prayer and I felt the Holy Spirit there with us. Praise God for these wonderful women!

Pete, my 1 year old, has been diagnosed with severe food allergies. He is allergic to most of the things that we’ve been feeding him his whole life. I felt like such a bad mother for basically unknowingly poisoning my child for a year. He has eczema over 50% + of his body, and has been very congested since he was born. We are extremely fortunate that these are the ways his allergies manifested themselves in him. Food allergies can be deadly, thus the reason for my guilt and my incredible relief in finally learning the cause of these problems. After repeated visits to our pediatrician and a dermatologist to no avail, we tried a chiropractor and a more holistic approach. He’s been receiving adjustments for a month, and had a blood test done that tests the top 96 food allergens. Pete has 19 of them, some of them severely. Milk, nuts, wheat, rice, oats, soy, coconut, eggs, barley, gluten, sesame, safflower, sunflower, on and on…

Unfortunatley, I have a friend that has been very negative about this new approach we’re taking which is too bad…he’s been off of all of these foods for 4 days now and his face is no longer splotchy and red. He isn’t scratching as much, and he’s no longer congested. I’m talking about a baby that scratches enough to make himself bleed. I have felt helpless for so long, and I have secretly cried tears of relief into my pillow at my prayers finally being answered. I am concentrating on the things he CAN eat which is fruits, vegetables, and meats…no breads, crackers, soy, or dairy. Do you know how many things have gluten in them? Our whole family is moving towards this way of eating too. Maybe this is God’s way of helping me to lose weight too?! I did find vegetable chips at Dillons that he can have and they taste pretty good! Next stop…Whole Foods. (Laurie’s so proud of me) 🙂

Pete is on the road to recovery, and so is my heart thanks to my positive friends!