Better

It's been almost a month since I've posted....a weird month.

We are on the "up" side now.

She didn't get all better immediately after finding out what she was and was not allergic to.  Things must have remained in her system for awhile or something.  But NOW.  Now she has been doing so well, so very consistently that I'm not sure when exactly I started relaxing again.

And SHE is so happy and content lately.  So back to normal...the way I like for things to be.  I have found that I love "boring"....I have loved it for a few years now.

Her allergens are not as numerous as we believed they were going to be.  And she does not have celiac disease, nor does she even seem to be sensitive to gluten.  I can SO handle milk, beef and lamb, people.  Let me tell you.  THIS IS do-able.

God is SO GOOD.  He is SO MERCIFUL.  And he REALLY is INCREDIBLY more than worthy of our trust...even after we again and again fail to see that.

I can see that He might not have given us the gifts of all these foods she can eat now.  That may have been a burden that He chose for us to carry.  And eventually, He would have pulled she and I (me more than her) out of our self-pitying mire and dusted us off and told us to live and given us contentment again, and shaped our character through it all.  But I am so grateful that He chose to do it THIS way...giving us back some very sustaining foods for Lu. 

I know for a fact she has gained a little weight back.  Her appetite is back and she is not afraid of the pain she might experience when she eats. 

I am grateful to our friends and family who prayed for her health, for her emotions, for my craziness and just for our family in general.  Thank you.  I am also grateful for the man at Chili's who was SO VERY careful the first time we ventured back out into public life, and joked with her and identified with her and made her smile.  And I'm grateful for another young man, that day, who worked at Cold Stone Creamery and as he brought her sorbet (specially dipped from the back room so as not to be contaminated), he knelt beside her gave her a chivalrous smile and said "I gave you and extra scoop of marshmallows, but don't tell anybody", then winked and walked away.  She couldn't stop grinning and acting sheepish, and she had no idea why.  It was adorable and made her day, after nearly a month of staying at home, eating chicken and rice and feeling not so special.

Also, while staying housebound so long, she picked up a new hobby...learning the art of clowning and miming :) 

Pictures of the return of the smiles....