A Persevering Love

By Lauren DiLanno

A Persevering Love is a compelling and true story about a young boys battle with an eating disorder.  Lauren shares their most vulnerable moments as a family as they were struggling to seek the proper help for their son.  Although it was not an easy road, they realized that they needed to stop trying to control the situation.  They surrendered and were held by God through it all.  God bought them to the right treatment facility and gave them the wisdom and strength they needed.  He showed them that separating the eating disorder from their son was key.  The eating disorder was nothing more than a third party taking over the thought process of their child.  He showed them that despite the hold the disease had on their child, that they were more deeply connected and always will be to Him.  This untouchable strength coupled with science is an unbeatable combination.  There is hope!  Love always perseveres!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 9, 2022
• ISBN: 9781639618606

Book preview

Chapter 1

The Beginning

It was just a normal evening in our household. The only difference on this particular night was that I was on my own, watching my son’s baseball game. I could actually watch this particular night because the rest of my family was at home with my husband. We both had agreed that it would be nice for me to get to spend some one-on-one time with my son, Ryan. When you have four children, time like this is even more precious. Even if it just meant my full attention to his game and a trip to get ice cream after to either celebrate the win or smooth over a loss.

It was the spring of 2015, and at that time, Ryan was just ten years old. Ryan always enjoyed playing baseball, but this particular year, I was concerned about how hard Ryan was on himself whether at bat or on the mound. I started to think maybe baseball was not the sport for him. What he used to enjoy was no longer a positive experience for him. That night, Ryan’s team lost, and I noticed Ryan was extremely negative to the point that I found myself say, It was just a game.

I drove to one of our favorite ice cream stops. We were talking on the way, and when we arrived, I ordered my ice cream, but Ryan could not decide what flavor he wanted.

I said, Why not get your usual vanilla cone?

He began to resist getting any ice cream at all. He was quite moody, and all I could think was, What kid would not want ice cream? Little did I know, this was just the beginning of a rough season, and I was not talking about baseball.

Ryan was also part of a track club at the time. Running fast seemed to be Ryan’s strength. He was getting thinner, and I was concerned his body was not absorbing what it needed. I saw our pediatrician, and he suggested we start giving him PediaSure. I asked him, Should I stop track?

He said, No.

I used it instead as a means to get Ryan to eat more. The moodiness continued. I kept wondering, Could this just be the beginning of adolescence?

Ryan had always been such an easygoing sweet boy, so these mood swings coming from him were quite shocking. I had gone through this stage with my older son, and it was pretty smooth. I started to think that maybe he was just different from his brother. Ryan was becoming very negative, and he was no longer the persevering optimist he once was. The spring went by quickly and so did the complete transformation of my son.

Soon summer had approached, and all the kids were home. Being a teacher, I had the privilege of being home as well. One day, as I was feeding the kids lunch, I observed strange behavior. I had given the kids bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches for lunch, and Ryan removed the bacon from the sandwich and placed it inside his pocket. When I confronted him, he said he did not like it. He had always enjoyed bacon in the past. Little by little, Ryan became pickier and pickier with food. He would only eat certain foods. He was only eating plain raisin toast for breakfast. He would cut his pizza up into tiny pieces and removed most of the cheese. When eating pasta, he would only eat one piece at a time. He was getting very rigid about everything he ate. He also began to withdraw from playing with his brothers. Ryan was complaining all the time. He complained our pool was too cold. He never seemed to just join in with his brothers. The moodiness started to affect the whole family, and my other two boys began acting out.

I felt as though the boys were growing apart. Ryan became so sullen and was always by himself. My daughter