Determination

This pile of sticks has inspired me today.........to write about determination. Every few days I kept finding this pile of sticks on my porch and sweeping it off. I finally realized after looking around there was a bird's nest on top of my light fixture, which is rounded on the top. These birds must have brought enough sticks to build 50 nests before they actually got one.

The last two years we have had a robin's nest in our play house all Spring. The robins are so protective of the nest the kids could not play in it. The birds "dive bombed" the playhouse shrieking at the kids and the kids gave up and found somewhere else to play. When I showed my kids the nest on the porch my youngest son said they were trying to build in the playhouse again so he kept destroying what they had started in hopes they would leave and he could have his playhouse again.


Wow...that means not only did these robins gather all the sticks I swept away, all that you see in the pile, all that the nest is built of but all that my son cleared away too. Now that is determination!


And it is inspiring because some days you can feel like you are doing all you can and it just isn't coming together. You spend so much of your time reading, researching, trying recipes that are not worth the effort, tracking down ingredients, feeling overwhelmed by all of this and the regular stresses of life, wondering if it will ever get easier, if it will ever come together.

Keep trying is the lesson we learn from the robins. Each stick gets us closer to the nest. I am coming up on the 2 year anniversary of officially going gluten free, two months later I gave up any dairy also. 18 months later I discovered the Specific Carbohydrate Diet and started changing things up again. Each phase I have found more relief from my health issues but the constant changes in what I am eating and how to shop for it, prepare it and store it have become a treadmill of gathering sticks. In the mean time 2 of my children were diagnosed with celiac's and trying to integrate everyone's likes and food allergies into the family meal plans has been overwhelming to say the least.

I do plan on staying on the SCD for at least a year, if not forever. I feel energetic when I wake up and better than I have in many years. I am trying to stay enthusiastic about trying new recipes and new foods. These robins have helped me to realize it is a long process but worth it in the end. Whatever your challenges are keep focused, one day at a time, one stick at a time.