and made his dwelling among us,
the glory as of the Father’s only Son,
This Christmas, my husband surprised me with a gift only our Lord could inspire him to get me. One which will be shared with two thousand souls.
As I have been going through testing for MS, my doctor placed me on a diet. One I was not thrilled about. Its completely gluten free. No flour of any kind that contained any wheat. Not to test me for celiac disease, but to see if I have a sensitivity to gluten which may be causing any of the symptoms I may be having. One of the issues I had with this diet, was that I would not be able to receive our Lord in the Eucharist. I can, however, receive Him through the Sacred Blood, which is available at my parish.
The day I had gotten home from the doctor, just a few days before my birthday, I had told my husband about the strict diet. I let him know my thoughts about the whole thing and I wasn’t exactly happy about not being able to receive our Lord, nor have birthday cake, nor anything through Christmas with flour in it. It was only temporary, but the timing of this, was not exactly the best, or so I thought.
Since this last bout of what ever this may be has come about in June, I have noticed a beautiful change in my husband, in which he as become very attentive and caring, pulling the two of us much closer than we had ever been at any time in our marriage.
For the past few weeks on this strange diet I had been very good. I have been avoiding everything so we could see just how much of a change would take place. I made cookies and all sorts of sweets for Christmas, offering up the fact that I couldn’t even taste them. This is only a temporary diet, and by my next doctor appointment, I will be able to have what I could not, again.
On Christmas Morning, as we were opening up gifts, my husband handed me my stocking. I pulled out two boxes and looked at them with a puzzled look on my face. I couldn’t tell what they were. My husband looked at me and said, “I know you would NEVER buy them for yourself, so I wanted to get them for you, because I know how important it is. I don’t know if they are okay to use, and I’m not sure they can be, because I know there are rules, but I wanted you to have them.”. He then preceded to tell me they were two boxes of hosts. Although, gluten free hosts.
My jaw must have hit the floor when he told me what he had done for me. In that very moment, it was as if our Lord was speaking to me. I didn’t know what to say. I was in awe at the gift. This gift meant everything to me. Granted, they can not be used, as there are strict stipulations on Communion Bread in the Catholic Church. I looked at my husband as if I was looking into the eyes of our Lord. The love that consumed me at that very moment, will never be forgotten.
As the day progressed, the thought of this gift inflamed my heart so deep in love. I looked at them, pondering our Lord, opened them and seen the ingredients, knowing full well at that moment, they were not usable for Catholic Mass. So driven by love, we purchased two boxes of usable Hosts with wheat, and when they are delivered, we will give them to our parish as a gift of our Lord that will be shared with all.
Merry Christmas!
Peg Pondering Again 