My Celiac turned into a blessing

The other day I made a trip into town to meet a lady who has Celiac. She has developed her own gluten free flour business, I went to her house to buy some gluten free flour and to ask her some questions. I thought that I would be there for an hour or less, I had never met her before and had no idea what to expect. As my conversation with her progressed from my story and how I discovered my intolerance we found that we were very much a like in personality. I ended up staying until 5:00, I spent 6 hours at her house!
She has 2 little boys, both are gluten intolerant so she bakes bread and other gluten free foods that most people just buy in the store. However one on a gluten free diet quickly discovers that the store bought "bread" hardly compares with what we used to eat and carries with it a heavy price tag (5.00 per loaf). Naomi was planning on baking all day so she encouraged me to stay as we chatted and baked and cleaned up the kitchen. I found a wealth of knowledge about celiac, cooking gluten free and living normally. I also found Spiritual unity and encouragement as we discussed many Biblical truths (She is nondisp. and grew up presby.) Best of all I found a friend. I was so excited after leaving her house because she is someone that I can learn a lot from, not only about gluten but also about being a stay at home mom and a pastor's wife. I am so thankful that I got to meet Naomi. I would have never even had the chance to get to know her if it was not for the one major thing we have in common.
Naomi has her own gluten free all purpose flour that can be substituted cup for cup with its gluten containing conterpart (white flour). This is an amazing feet considering that there are not many flour alternatives that can be used consistently. As she shared her story with me on how she came up with the formula it was evident that this is something that God gave her. All of the profit from the business goes into the ministry. Naomi has big plans to expand her business and add a whole grain flour that will be a "whole wheat" substitute. I would love to be a part of such fascinating work. The flour is called Better Batter gluten free all purpose flour and if you want to find out more about it she has a blog called betterbatterglutenfreeflour.com. On her website are recipies and information on gluten.
One major thing I learned is that gluten is a protein that is a binder in flour containing ingredients. Therefore I am not surprised that I often got sick eating in the cafeteria at school, cross contamination can occur if utensils, dishes and surfaces are not properly cleaned or kept separate. This still is a problem in my house with our tiny kitchen and no dishwasher. All of the dishes need to be washed in scalding water before the gluten protein is broken down.
However, I am so thankful for the friendship that God has given me through celiac.