Excuse me… is there milk, eggs, peanuts or mustard in that?

Each time I pick up my son from the church nursery he is covered in stickers. One for his name, another one that usually says “no cookies” on bright red tape, and a third one that says “epi-pen” on neon orange tape. Dealing with Jakob’s allergies have certainly taught me a lot about reading food labels and cooking – as well as things about my own heart.

People often ask how I found out about Jakob’s allergies. Well he was about 6 or 7 months old and he was playing with a friend. His friend had just eaten a food with peanut butter in it and had some still on her hands. When she touched his face he got swollen and broke out in hives. That incident started us on the journey of food allergies. After that I had him tested for allergies and also took him to see an allergist doctor.

One of the most anxious things for me about Jakob’s food allergies was the learning process of determining exactly which foods he was allergic to. It was especially hard while I was still nursing, wondering if what food I ate that might have passed through my milk and caused some of his reaction. One thing I learned about my own heart, was how quick I was to run to “the wisdom of this world” for answers. I found an online chat forum where mothers could share and ask questions about food allergies and their children. In many ways it was helpful. But where it revealed the idols of my own heart, was that I sought out “wisdom” and understanding of these allergies to the neglect of putting this all in perspective of my great God and loving Father. Sure it is important to understand food allergies. Ignorance of how allergies work would only be neglect on my part to be a responsible mother to keep my son out of harms way. But my focus on understanding all aspects to Jakob’s allergies was in neglect of trusting the goodness and sovereignty of my loving Lord – and revealed that I was seeking sovereign control over his allergies with my own power and wisdom.

My anxious and fearful heart revealed my weak faith and trust in my God. My actions showed that I believed “if God was really a good and loving God, surely He wouldn’t have made it so hard for me to learn how to feed my child?” I intellectually understood that God was sovereign and He created Jakob, and thus He created him to have these food allergies. But where my faith was weak, was that I didn’t believe God was good and loving to give these allergies to my son.

Recently (I don’t remember where) I heard someone describe trials in life as something that God has entrusted to you. So in terms of the trial of Jakob’s food allergies it could be said that “God has entrusted Jakob’s food allergies to me as his mother.” When you say it that way it sounds as though Jakob’s food allergies are a gift. Scripture tells us that trials are used to perfect our faith, to shape us more into Christ’s image. Romans 5:3-5 says “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

I didn’t understand that Jakob’s allergies are a blessing and a good gift until recently when his allergy to mustard was discovered. When I first learned Jakob was allergic to mustard I thought, “oh that is not a big deal, I just won’t put mustard on his hot dogs that’s easy.” But then I learned that mustard is also a spice and a seasoning. The thing that made me panic and get frustrated was when I learned that the FDA considers mustard a spice and part of the proprietary rights of a food company. Thus, the FDA does not require a company to disclose mustard as an ingredient on the food label, instead it can merely say “spices” or “natural flavorings”. This was different that Jakob’s other allergies (milk, eggs and peanuts) which the FDA requires to be fully disclosed on all food labels. The only way to know for sure if mustard is not a spice is to call the 800 number on the label and ask the customer service rep. This is what I did for the first week or so. I spent so much time calling companies, emailing companies, leaving messages and asking if mustard was one of the “spices” in their food. Some companies were nice and would tell me. Others just said “sorry, we will not tell you and we don’t have to legally tell you, instead just don’t consume our product.”

Then it dawned on me. Why am I spending sooo much effort to finding out which products have mustard and which don’t? Why don’t I instead spend my effort making my own food? If most salad dressings contain “spice” as an ingredient – instead of calling all of the salad dressing companies, why don’t I just make my own? To be honest the thought of cooking from scratch seemed very overwhelming to me. I wasn’t exactly eager to be one of those women who ground her own flour and made her own bread. But after the allergy doctor prescribed an epi-pen to Jakob for his allergies… and after he broke out in hives at a friend’s house when I was extra careful to make sure non of his allergies were in the food – I realized that in order to be a responsible mother I needed to stop complaining and take the extra effort to make my own food.

It hasn’t been as overwhelming as I thought. It is actually not too much longer or harder to make your own pancakes instead of using a mix. It was when I started making more food from scratch when I realized what a blessing Jakob’s allergies are. My husband has been asking me for awhile now that he’d like more healthier food to eat at home and during lunch at work. I knew that Allan would prefer me to cook more, but I didn’t care enough to take the effort to do so. It wasn’t until my son’s own health was at risk that it caused me to take action and stop being to selfish with my time.
Here is a list of some of the reasons that Jakob’s allergies reveal the goodness of God in my life:

• Cooking more from scratch has been a domino effect into my husband’s life – as now I can pack healthier and more desirable lunches for him.

• Cooking more from scratch has helped me better run the household because it forces me to plan out my menu for the week. And when I have a menu plan in place it is easier to serve my own family and even others by inviting them over to our house.

• The nursery at church does not feed each child their own snack (it would be too much time on their part to try to do so), so each child is stuck by getting the same cookie each time. But because Jakob has allergies, they will feed him the snack I pack, so Jakob can get a variety of snacks.

• I am thankful for fruit snacks and french fries. ☺ Because Jakob has a limited variety of foods he can eat, I am extra thankful for the treats he can eat. I might have been anxious and worrisome over feeding him “junk food”… but instead I am thankful that he can enjoy something special.

• Reading food labels and learning ingredients have helped me understand what goes into a food and how to choose more healthier options for my family.

• Jakob’s allergies have caused me to break out of my comfort zone for food, and not serve the same food over and over again, but instead to research and learn new foods and meals I can serve my family.

• Switching the rest of the family onto basically the same diet as Jakob has allowed me to serve the same meal I do to Allan and myself to Jakob too! This helps Jakob feel more included in our family rather than always told “no, you can’t touch Mommy’s food – no, you can’t eat Daddy’s food.”

• Cooking from scratch gives Jakob and opportunity to help me in the kitchen. He enjoys stirring and measuring ingredients and helping sweep and clean up after meals.

• Cooking from scratch will help force me into learning how to cook Filipino food once we move to the Philippines. There will definitely be a learning curve again with his allergies once we move there. But I will be forced to learn which ingredients are “safe” and to learn how to cook with the ingredients I have access to over there. This will also help us open up our home more over there and invite others over – as it is easier to fix food Jakob can eat and invite others to join us, rather than going out and wondering what foods are “safe”.

* I have never been so thankful for a doctor as I have with Jakob's allergist. I am thankful that he took the time, energy and money to learn about allergies. His profession has truly been helpful to me in learning and understanding Jakob's allergies.