“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear.” // Matthew 6:25
I winced as I bit into the sauteed spinach leaves and charred sausage patty. This autoimmune protocol diet was . . . something. My husband reached over to pour me some of the breakfast smoothie. “Don’t!” I let out a quick yelp. “It has dairy in it.”
That was our dance for about four weeks. He would offer me food that I desperately wanted: thick slices of Tillamook cheddar cheese, a fluffy bite of his ice cream, a sip of hot cocoa. I would choke down something with coconut milk, unsweetened cocoa (whyyy), or no flavor. I wish I could say that I offered it all up with the zeal of a devout Saint, but I complained about everything tasting like cardboard voraciously.
When Our Lord tells us not to worry about what we will eat or drink, surely He didn’t mean literally to blow past common-sense food guidelines. And what about those of us trying to figure out our never-ending nerve pain, healing the ole gut, listening to the body saying no to sugar (alas), etc? What part of not reading endless food health expert blogs didn’t Jesus get?
Perhaps for me, and for you, Jesus offers His hand and when we gingerly touch our fingers to His palm, He will pull us in for a heart-to-heart on worry. Instead of my scoffing, my heart will soften to hear His heart beating to the sound of Lub-dub, Love-you.
My autoimmune issues didn’t magically get resolved through eating differently, though less sugar definitely helped with snapping at my kids. I watched how food affected me, but instead of looking wide-eyed in the panic of a mom with four kids in six years who needs to get all the medical answers quickly, I rested my arms around my cross.
Your cross is for your sanctity. Get help, seek out medical pros, sob to your mom over dried cranberries, but also rest in His heart. He’s holding your cross with you.
Your cross is for your sanctity. // Nell O'Leary Click to tweet
Nell O’Leary is the Managing Editor for Blessed is She, an attorney turned writer, speaker, and editor while tending to her husband and five kiddos. She also facilitates our community groups as she loves helping women find sisterhood. Her undergrad is in English from University of Minnesota and her J.D. from Ave Maria School of Law. Notably, she can down a hot cocoa in two seconds. Find out more about her here.
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