Eczema, Donkey Milk, and Thank You's

From an email I got last September, from a desperate mom...

"Hello, I was wondering how much donkey milk would cost? I would love to try it for my three year old's eczema, based on the testimonials I've read. I know eczema doesn't exactly sound like like a pressing medical issue, but for him, it is. He was healthy as a horse, not even the slightest sign of eczema, until a few months ago. In May, he suddenly came down with the worst case of eczema I've ever seen. It covered his entire body, his poor little face was cracked and bleeding around his mouth and eyes. He did a round of prednisone, and it cleared up, but came back worse than before even though I didn't think that was even physically possible. We did another round to buy us time, and tried cutting out this and adding that. He's now using a topical steroid cream and Eucrisa daily, and while it's not as bad as it was, it's still causes him pain daily. And I hate using pharmaceuticals on him so much, we are a "crunchy" family, but no amount of moisturizing or bathing or probiotics or elderberry helps, and we were already eating clean and using pure cosmetics/detergents/etc so there is not much more that we can cut out. I'm desperate to help him. I will be ordering some of your soap and moisturizer as soon as my husband is paid, but I would also like to try some of the milk straight and see if it can help some. He is such a sweet boy, but some other kids are actually afraid to play with him because of the eczema on his face. He's only three, but spends time staring at his face in the mirror and crying. It kills me to hear him crying and in pain, and I can't make it better no matter what I try. It's affecting his life, much more than simply an itchy patch of skin. We live in ________ which is a few hours away, but I'll happily come pick some up if there's any chance it can help my boy. How much does a jar cost, and how much do you recommend a child drink in a day?"

That was in September. Now it's the end of May. I hadn't heard anything from her for the last 8 months, and I assumed it didn't work. Two jars (less than 4 cups of milk) couldn't possibly be enough to see a difference. Then the other day I got this email...

"Hi Saundra, how are you? I know it's been a while, but I wanted to update you on _______. After we made it through the two jars of donkey milk, his eczema completely went away! Even though it was severe (the worst case his dermatologist had ever seen according to her) and covered basically his entire body, after the milk it completely vanished. That small amount of donkey milk did what his $700 medication could not. And the best part is, after going away, it STAYED away! We had no need for any more treatment, not the smallest or slightest spot reappeared for the past seven months. Until now. It's started reappearing around his eyes and mouth. We tried the same treatments we tried before, with the same results. Which brings me to my next point.

I was hoping we could buy another couple jars from you? I would like to put a stop to this before it gets as bad as last time. I read on your website that you're struggling to meet demand, so I understand if we need to wait a bit. One or two jars should be all we need and should last for months, if last time is any indication. Please let me know if we will be able to buy some from you and if so, when.

Thank you (seriously, THANK YOU for what you did for my baby),"

Signed, a grateful mom.

Here's the thing, she's got it all wrong from the beginning.

She addressed this email to ME....

It should say....

"Dear Husband who milks donkeys every night all winter long and misses dinner with his family and eats cold leftovers and falls asleep in the chair because he's been up since 5:30 helping his wife make soap before donkey chores to sell to pay for the first "free jar" you gave to my son..."

"Dear Lady who bought a bar of soap for $12.99 instead of a bar of cheap Walmart soap, who didn't scoff at the price, because it helped pay for that free jar of milk that was given to my baby..." (And then another bar and another, because... best soap EVER.)

"Dear Veterinarian and Friends, including the one who is no longer with us, who may never know how much it means to us that they give up their Saturday to x-ray a donkey and float her teeth in the dark by the light of a flashlight, and risk getting kicked by a giant mammoth donkey to give her a shot of an antibiotic that saved her from a horrid death of by septicemia when she was going downhill fast. Not to mention the donkey necropsy (autopsy), and pregnancy checks, and and and never charged us a penny, so we would have those two jars of donkey milk when it was in short supply..."

"Dear News Anchors, Videographers, and everyone behind the scenes from nearly every news station in Oklahoma. Thank you for doing sweet stories about a Donkey Dairy, and instead of portraying them like they were crazy, you took the time to learn the real story, and were willing to go out on a limb and share it, in spite of what anyone else may think, even if it meant getting donkey hair on your outfit and poop on your shoes...."

"Dear Donors, thank you for giving on behalf of the families that can't afford to buy even one jar of milk...because they have medical bills for all the pills and all the creams and all the appointments and all the things..."

"Dear Volunteers who spend their Saturday afternoons scooping poop and loving on donkeys and filling in the gap so all our donkeys get the love and attention they need...thank you."

"Dear God, thank you for working all things out for good. Even a devastating illness in a little girl, that seemed like nothing that could have been part of the plan of a loving God. An illness that made a momma angry at You, so angry, that she thought she had to figure this thing out on her own...because You weren't helping, and You let this happen, and WHY would You do this to a child? And all along You were orchestrating the details so that a 3 year old, who wasn't even born when that little girl got sick, could one day drink 2 jars of donkey milk and be well, and that mom could see that You were with her, every pain filled step of the way."

But, how could she have known how much love went into those 2 jars of milk?

Maybe it's miracle milk.

Or maybe it's all the love, prayers, sweat, tears, and givers that went into those two jars of milk.

Or, maybe it's that God likes to use the butt of the joke, the reject, the laughingstock, the humble, the meek, and the lowly, to confound the so called wisdom of this world.

And what's more laughable than a donkey?

The same species as the great great great great great great......grand babies of the donkey that carried a King?

If you figure that one out, let me know. 

I’m all ears.