Building Character -- Conquering Fear

Many people know that Dan is allergic to things -- but I think that very few of us know what it feels like to have ordinary food, or ordinary parts of our environment, pose real danger for us.  Dan has been tested for food allergies more than once.  Last time they tested him for 19 different foods and he was at least mildly allergic to 13 of them and severely allergic to 3.  This past Tuesday I had him tested for other allergies.  They tested him for 48 things, and he was allergic to 43.  He was allergic to every tree, grass, and weed that he was tested for.  One of those tested higher than his allergy to peanuts, which is high, and many were close to that high.  He tested positive for 4 out of 7 molds, all three indoor inhalents (and they don't test for perfumes or chemicals which we are positive, from experience, that he is allergic to).  He is also allergic to cats, horses and feathers.

On top of having to deal with the anxiety of being allergic to so many things, and the reactions he might have, he often has to deal with kids who don't understand and who threaten to touch him with cheese or milk on their hands thinking that they are being funny.  It is not funny to Dan.  Hives are itchy and miserable.  He put his elbow on our table last night and got hives from the milk that wasn't cleaned up properly, but was invisible to the eye.  "Reward" days at school often include pizza or ice cream, and I don't often know about it and so he is left with no reward, and the chance to sit in a room full of things that will give him hives if he touches them, or is touched by someone who touches them!

Dan finds comfort in Teddy
who he is, thankfully,
no allergic to.

Dan has long been a fan of Calvin and Hobbes.  We laugh when the Dad gives Calvin jobs to do and tells him that it will build character.  I think dealing with allergies is, or at least can be, character building.  Dan has had to learn to be forgiving, he has had to learn how to handle being excluded -- often by accident, and he has had to learn to be careful, and observant.  He has to get up every day and conquer the fear that comes with not knowing what he might react to that day.  He has had to deal with panic attacks, and asthma attacks, or one causing the other.  Through all of these challenges, Dan has faith in Christ.  When I didn't know how to help him the other day, I sent him to school with a scripture written down and kept in his pocket to pull out and read.  He said that it helped.  I will end with that, because we all need courage for whatever our challenges are too.