No, it's nothing major in science like how to live on Mars or anything. Nor is it how to lose fifty pounds in one week. Nothing like that.
But don't get discouraged! Please, keep reading...
Since December 5th I've been having problems with being able to eat food and not feel sick. We had no idea what the problem was for over three months. When a new doctor put me on a gluten-free, dairy-free diet I began to feel a whole lot better. In the past two weeks I've started to add a little bit of dairy back into my diet. It didn't do anything to me so I kept eating it.
But I did not want to try the gluten yet.
Yesterday while out and about with my family we had bean burritos from Taco Bell. I didn't even think about the tortilla shell being gluten...I was simply too hungry. So I ate it. I started to feel sick maybe thirty minutes after I had eaten it.
This morning when I got up, it was about 3:30, I realized just how sick I felt. All of the pain and queasy feelings that I had endured for over three months were plaguing my body something awful. I almost could not get out of bed I was in so much pain. That's when I figured out that gluten is my enemy.
Now what is gluten?
The word 'gluten' comes from the Latin word, "glue."
Gluten is a protein composite found in foods processed from wheat, and related grains, including barley and rye. Gluten is what makes your dough stretchy.
Almost all of my family has a gluten allergy. Right down to three-year-old Michael. I didn't think I had it. I refused to think I was allergic to gluten. Come on! Who wants to give up tasty donuts, or delicious homemade bread, or toast (I love toast!), or cake, or...yeah. The list could go on. I didn't want to give any of it up. I didn't want to admit that I had problems with it.
And isn't that so true with some of the things in life? We don't want to give something up, so God takes us through a situation so that we will? We could have simply given it up early on and spared ourselves, and other people, so many problems and heartache, and whatnot. We would much rather hang on to our junk than give it up and let God give us something better.
If we could simply learn to let go and let God. It's not easy though. We are like children who don't want to go to Disneyland because we are having too much fun making mud pies in the back yard.
Look what God offers in exchange for our junk though! Blessings, and so much more...
I could have easily averted so many of the problems I went through if I had listen to the advice of some friends of ours. They suggested that I go off gluten and see what happened. Stubborn me told them that toast was the only thing that didn't make me hurt...Ha! Ha! Oh, if only I had realized.
But aside from that, God did teach me a boatload of things while I was 'down'. I wouldn't trade my exhausting three months of hardship for anything because of the valuable lessons I learned.
Isn't Romans 8:28 so true?
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to the them who are the called according to His purpose."
God takes our mistakes and turns them into blessings for us. He is amazing and more.
This morning, I told my mother that gluten would never again enter my mouth. I will live without all of those tasty treats mentioned above. I do not want to feel sick anymore. I am tired of feeling lazy and useless.
So! I will live gluten-free and be extremely happy with it. :)
Two questions for you, dear reader, before you click off:
1. Could you possibly have an intolerance to gluten and don't even realize it?
2. Is there something in your life that you need to let go of?
