Red bumps rise and welts form. Small Son writhes as the itching becomes unbearable. I open my bag of tricks, producing snacks and books and Playmobile pirates. I turn the book into a fan and try to distract my poor boy from his discomfort.

All the while a forbidden reality is sinking into this mom’s heart.

Our son has developed a serious allergy. To tree nuts. My mind raced back to the recent events that lead us to make an appointment with an allergy specialist.

There was the innocent hazelnut that caused his lips to swell. Hmmm, interesting, we thought.

Then there was the nut/granola bar that gave him severe stomach pain for hours. I was starting to see a pattern.

Then the final, most serious episode happened. Tiny Daughter was cracking pistachios beside him, and his eyes became red and swollen. He came upstairs and complained of his throat feeling tight. I dumped Benadryl down his throat without measuring it and immediately called our doctor.

Which resulted in allergy testing for both of our children. Tiny Daughter is home free. Small Son? A life change.

We left the office that day {about two weeks ago} with a bit of relief to finally know exactly what the culprit was. We also left with epipen prescriptions and instructions and the charge to make a lifestyle change.

We are now an epipen-carrying family. We carry two of them, in fact.  And so I’m learning how to always remember to send it wherever he goes, to make sure that the pen doesn’t get too hot or too cold, to ensure that my purse is always with me, and to try to police regulate every morsel of food that enters my son’s mouth.

Unsettled? Definitely. I struggled with accepting how serious this could be, per our doctor’s words. I want to believe that I could skimp sometimes. I wilt at the thought of how it’s all going to work as Small Son grows up and becomes more independent.

My heart has been a melting pot of worried emotions. Until I came across this verse, and began meditating on it- spending time on each word in my mind:

“The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.” Proverbs 18:10

Oh, what precious words! I’m one of those ‘righteous’ and I know where to go to be safe. I can teach my children where to run and find safety- the strong tower of God’s name. I don’t have to live in fear. And I don’t have to pass on my fears to my little people.

Sometimes it takes time, doesn’t it? We spend minutes, hours, days, weeks in an unsettled state of mind. Often we choose not to let the words of God saturate our lives to the point where they infuse peace into our ruffled spirits.

I’m talking about myself here. I do it too. But it’s something I want to work on intentionally. Meditating on God’s Words so that they affect my day to day living more practically…so that they plunge me deeper, higher into the beauty of grace.

And guess what happens when we slow. down. and discipline our minds to such a ‘mundane’ thought exercise?

Peace. It can’t be rushed. It must be done God’s way.

And peace flows in softly when we make the right choices.

So no matter what situation or season of life you are facing,

You can’t rush peace.

 

Just joining the series? Catch up here:

Part Two {You Can’t Rush Love}

Part One {You Can’t Rush Joy}