When I was diagnosed with celiac in 2015, a day before Christmas, keep in mind, my two favorite foods were bread and past. When my mother told me, I cried and cried, thinking about how I couldn’t do this for a month even, let alone my entire life. I would often tell my mom, “you said God would give us things we can overcome but I can’t overcome this.” (She later told me I would say this to her every day) I would often break down crying, thinking about everything I couldn’t eat. My mom told me she would keep praying for me every night until it got better.

I believe the answer to my mom’s prayers was my mom, herself. God blessed her with the knowledge to make food taste “normal” again. She comes up with these flour blends to make bread, cookies, pancakes, and waffles. I don’t know how she did it without God’s help. Heck, to this day, she is making all the food better. It’s to the point where I had a friend who said he could taste if it was gluten-free, and he tried something my mom made, and he said it tasted “normal.” And because of this, I overcame my fear. She helped me overcome my fear.

Now, seven years later, it isn’t hard anymore. There are challenging moments, but all in all, it’s not too difficult. This was also life-changing for me, besides the complete change of what I eat, because it showed me, I can get through anything complicated. If I got through literally the most challenging thing in my life, I know I can get through anything with the help of God.