Once again, I find myself baffled and challenged to help my husband figure out which bazillionth, stupid thing is causing his headache, nausea and weird shaking. And no, it isn't coffee.
The challenge doesn't just come in the mystery trigger, but also in the shopping, planning, preparing, and cooking of meals. I am the grocery CEO and chef so the burden of managing this portion of our lives has fallen so kindly on me. And I am tired. I have days where I hate food.
For roughly two years, we have been creating a color-coded, beautifully crafted spread sheet of what food items cause awful symptoms. This includes a dinner menu, slash grocery list so wifey here doesn't kill her hubby with food.
My spouse (the sweet, special one) has food allergies to oats, chocolate (that is SO wrong), many preservatives and is gluten-intolerant so cooking is rarely ever convenient. If food comes in any packaged, boxed, or canned form, it must be inspected, scrutinized, analyzed, criticized, and often snubbed.
If you need a vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, raw, or grain-free recipe-I'm sure I have one.
Yet, there is more to this story than frustration...
I have risen to these challenges. We eat more whole foods in there natural state and we all feel better. Not that we never eat junk food. I have just had to learn to look at food differently, have had to cook more items from scratch and it does taste better, but most importantly...
I have found God faithful as always...providing strength and ingenuity. I have grown immensely in planning, organizing and executing in ways I did not before and my compassion, patience and gratefulness have deepened for my husband. I find myself getting better at serving others instead of myself. I know that is because of God's work in my family and in me.
Changing because of God's doing is always beautiful, but more often than not-painful. I have had to hand over a TON of insanity-sick-of-it moments, but God has exchanged these with periods of peace, joy, laughter and bonding. So even though I still sometimes loathe dealing with food, I know that this is more about his work in my family and me and less about the food.
P.S. I will always miss the convenience of eating out. It is rarer these days and yes, I know that is a spoiled luxury we have in this country.
Linking up at : MamaKats
