As promised in a previous post, this is the explanation of why we've not baked bread here for 6 years. 

(This is copied from my post on the Five in a Row discussion boards, so if you visit there- yes, it should look familiar.  )

My son was diagnosed with many food allergies at age 1, after a year of fussiness, skin rashes and about 6 months of failure to gain weight. His body was so damaged by the exposures to these foods over that time that eliminating the foods did not allow him to fully recover. We had to place him on a hypoallergenic formula-only diet. His symptoms were so severe that we thought he would never be able to consume anything other than the formula. We were very relieved when he was tested and it was determined that he did not suffer from any other digestive disorders. It was truly a miracle for us when a year later we were able to successfully introduce solid foods to his diet.

Two years later when most children have left their infant allergies far behind we had him tested only to find that his were still very much with him. We had tried so diligently to avoid any exposure and surely thought that two years on formula would have let his body "forget" those allergens. That hadn't happened for him, in fact allergies that we thought would be long gone were actually much worse. I was disappointed and really struggled with my fears for awhile. But eventually I saw these results as an indication that he simply was not to ever eat these foods. He was set apart in that way for reasons beyond my understanding or need to know.

Last year, we did the testing again. We had put it off for 6 months as I saw no point in bothering. But we went in just to see if the numbers had changed. The results this time were so improved that I thought they had tested someone else's blood sample. We were given the go-ahead to begin in-office food trials to test these foods one at a time by feeding them to our little guy.

It took me 4 months to actually keep an appointment to test our first food. I cancelled twice. We finally went in last week and my brave little boy made it through. He did not react when he ate wheat (chocolate cake) in the office and hasn't reacted since. For this time in his life, our son has been given wheat.


He is still severely allergic to cats and dogs and several foods, but he has been given this gift for which we are all very grateful. I know that there is a purpose in us receiving back this food- and in the months to come we may gain several others, though I cannot know what that purpose is to be.

Food allergies cannot be cured by man but are only removed by God's will. So we humbly share the news of this blessing as news of God's power over things both great and small.

--In His time, by His will.