Greg's relatively easy semester has just gotten a little bit busy. So while last year, doing bedtime and dinner time alone would have been an old hat, this semester I have gotten "soft." I'm not used to making dinner, while managing whiny, hungry kids, getting food on the table and making sure each child gets enough food (and enough variety) and doing all the bedtime routine on my own. In fact just thinking about it now makes me breathe faster and my chest tighten up.

Dinner time has not been a pleasant experience as of late. Both kids have rejected each meal, deciding to pick at their food until force fed by equally tired and whiny parents. Bennett has been living on an exclusively bread diet for some time.

So tonight knowing I had an evening alone with the kids, I hunkered down and prepared for the worst. And yet, the kids played nicely while I cooked and even helped a little bit. When I put dinner on the table, much to my surprise, both kids acted like normal kids! They ate, laughed and asked for more. Bennett ate beans, corn, avacados, tomatoes and pita bread. On the outside I was trying to play it cool. But on the inside I was bursting with joy. I didn't have to feed a single bite to Jackson.

In fact last week there was another day that I was going it alone for dinner time, and both kids acted like perfect angels.

So now we are having a dance party in the living room to celebrate our small (large to me) victory for the day.

I've always knows that the Lord will not test me more than I can handle. A mom will only be asked to feed her stubborn kids alone as much as she has strength. How true that is for me today.