My Enemy - The Nut

My thoughts can run wild when I start thinking about my daughter's life threatening nut allergy. I don't allow them to go to the extreme. There's no point. Worrying is proof that I don't trust God with this area of my life. And I do trust Him. 100%. Ok, maybe it's more like 98%, but I'm only human!

To think that one little tiny nut could potentially kill my daughter is just absurd. A nut. Seriously?

It's been about a month and a half since we found out about Cheyenne's allergy and we've been dealing with it just fine. Sure, the day I found out was like a huge punch in my gut, leaving me speechless and unable to breathe for a moment, but I only let it stay that way for a short time.

God is greater than nut allergies. No, really. He is. I can tell you for certain that God has protected my little Girlie in the months before we knew about her allergy. I remember giving her some cereals with nuts in it at one point. God protected her. God loves her. He loves her more than I love her so that says a lot because I love her more than I could even put into words.

I could choose to live in fear. Choose to live in a constant state of worry. Choose to have this allergy consume me and my family. But I choose to trust God. I choose to live life and live it to the full. I will do everything in my power to protect my daughter, but a time will come when I won't be there every minute of every day. One day she'll be in Kindergarden and I won't be able to stop her from eating something that another student offers her. So I trust God. I have to. Is there any other choice, really?

I like to think that having learned of this allergy has actually helped us to love her even more! I didn't think it was possible, but it is! We understand her body more. We understand what makes her sick and what could harm her. She is no different to us now, as a person, than she was the day before we found out about the allergy. So why should we treat her differently and treat her life differently? Yes, we've cleared out our whole house of anything that has nuts in it or might possibly contain traces of nuts in it. My parents have made their home safe for her, as well, and anyone else's home that we've gone to since has been so supportive and understanding of us wanting them to vacuum their floors before we come over and to hide all nut products. So much love for this little person in our lives.

Halloween has made me think about this allergy even more. Think about all the treats that people hand out to their Trick-ot-Treater's. Chocolate bars upon chocolate bars that have nuts in them. I used to be one of those people, too. My favourite chocolate bar is Reese's Pieces. But did you know that 1 in 4 children is highly allergic to nuts? Peanut or tree nuts. We bought a box of chocolate bars that says right on the box that they were made in a peanut-free factory (it didn't say tree nuts but Cheyenne isn't eating any of the chocolate anyway!) But what are other people going to give her? Obviously we'll be going through all the goodies she gets on Sunday and throw away (or quickly eat them ourselves!) any foods that might contain nuts.

Or Christmas. How many of you have chocolates, and nuts, sitting around your place during the holiday season for you and guests to snack on while you visit? Lindt? Ferrer Rochere? Yup, they have nuts.

I feel like people might think that we are now an inconvenience to them if they invite us over. We do ask that who ever is bringing food not bake or cook with nuts and that there's no nut products lying around and that the floors are swept or vacuumed before we come over. (Cheyenne is still into picking crumbs off the floor and eating them, that's why.)

But this is our reality. We had to redefine our "normal". That's all. Life goes on as usual. Our daughter has a serious life threatening allergy and there is nothing that I will do to even potentially put her at risk.

I never would have thought about any this had I not been put in this position, so I hope that I can open your eyes to see this in a new light, maybe for the first time. If you have kids in school, be thoughtful of the other children in their classes and don't pack peanut butter sandwiches or walnut muffins, etc. Us parents of children with allergies would greatly appreciate it!

Anyway, that my food for thought for the day. No pun intended. ;) Enjoy your weekend and don't forget that tomorrow is the last day to get your name entered into my draw for a free mini photo shoot!!!