Steady My Heart

In a typical day, I feel like I “start over” at least a dozen times. Now, I’m not talking about starting over with my attitude, (even though I definitely do that!) I’m talking about my forever journey of being gluten free. Every day it seems like we are finding out something new. I’ll call it, “The many different layers of being Gluten Free”. Well, the newest layer is that their is gluten in my gluten free products. I have one thing to say about that...

 Sacrilege! 

Okay, that may seem a little overdramatic to some of you, but that's how I feel. 

I have to make sure anything I use is not only naturally gluten free but: 

It is not grown or harvested around gluten containing grains;

It is not shipped or stored with gluten items; 

The facility where it is made/processed is completely gluten free;

and that it is certified gluten free.

I knew some of this before, but not all the "ins and outs" that is vital for a Celiac. Sometimes, I think I’m going completely mad! I can practically hear my brain saying “Warning: System Overload. System Overload.” over and over again. Obviously, I do not want to be ignorant to the things that will help me get my health back. In fact, I’m very grateful about new things I have learned. But it can be very overwhelming. For instance, today was pretty lousy. I found out the makeup I use is most likely cross-contaminated. Not my Makeup! To a girl who does not wear makeup, this probably won’t seem bad at all. But if you do wear it and enjoy it, like I do, then, I’m sure you will understand. Needless to say, I spent a good portion of today, with most likely, a wild look on my face, trying to research gluten free makeup. 

Having Celiac, the way I have it, is hard. Just when you think you are getting somewhere and doing the right thing, you realise that you were getting nowhere and you’re doing it wrong. Most days I feel just like this picture.  

Okay, I guess I better bring some positivity into this post. He-He. It can be very easy to get overwhelmed and I can make it worse. I can be my own worst enemy. A lot of times I need to just relax and trust that Jesus has it all under control. There are things that I cannot control or fix, and to totally stress myself out is the last thing I need to be doing! I will be honest and say that I don't do very well at not being stressed. I’m pretty sure that my stress has stress. 

Nothing in my world of trying to be 100% gluten free is ever a sure thing. That is very frightening!  Focusing on the fact that I live in a world “infested” (yes, infested!) with gluten is only causing stress and anxiety, etc. etc. But thankfully, I never have to worry about God changing! So even if things are getting to heavy to carry or I don’t know who to trust or believe, I can trust Jesus! 1 Peter 5:7 says to “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” What a great verse to remember! We don’t have to walk around with this mountain of worry! God will carry it for us! Better yet, He will get rid of it! 

I am going to try and get myself in a habit of bringing my troubles to Jesus before my “breakdown”. When I feel like things are getting to be to much, I’m going to try and sit back and say “You got this, Lord!”