Becoming more

My family is spread throughout the world and I miss them so much.  My sisters are my best friends and it is hard to not actually be with each other very much (although Verizon can attest that we do speak an insane amount!)  Anthony coaches at a tournament in Philly for 2 weeks each summer so I decided to head down south to Atlanta instead of being home alone with the girls.
I have been looking forward to this trip for months but I always fret over flying with kids, especially with two, by myself. Alexandra is to the point where she can entertain herself pretty well but my sweet Sophi is a different story.  She is so adventurous and curious that she does not like to sit for more than maybe 90 seconds tops in any situation (other than at a hockey game, she is her daddy's girl!).
In preparation for the trip I packed every imaginable distraction I could think of and hauled two kiddos, two full backpacks and a diaper bag onto the plane.  Luckily there was an extra seat so I didn't have to contain my craziness in only two seats.  The first five minutes went well and then Sophi decided that sitting on my lap was not very fun and the wiggling and wrestling ensued.
I tried, I tried so hard to be patient and find any way I could to keep my sweet baby from screaming at the top of her lungs for the two hour flight.  I was successful for about an hour (and even made it through drink service without a spill) before the screeching ensued.  So I sat in my seat, trying everything under the sun to calm my little Sophs down and nothing worked.  I knew that if I became upset I would only intensify the situation, so I continued offering everything I had and singing and hoping that she would calm down.
And then I prayed.  I didn't know what else to do so I prayed that she would calm down or that I would know how to help her.  I will admit, I had tears welling up and I didn't know how I would survive the next hour.  And then I remembered - Anthony put an emergency bag of candy in the diaper bag.  I fished it out and gave it to Sophi and like magic, she calmed down almost immediately.  I think she ate only one jelly bean but just holding that bag stopped the crying.
While I still had to work hard to entertain her for the remainder of the flight I was successful at doing so.  While waiting at the baggage claim a man approached me and said that he sat behind me on the flight and I deserved a gold star for being so patient with my kids.  I apologized for all of the ruckus and he said that he hoped my girls knew how patient I was with them.
This shocked me.  Anyone who knows me knows that I patience is not one of my talents.  I get flustered and frustrated and then angry.  I want my kids to behave and I want everything to always go smoothly and as planned.  Yes, I know I live in a fantasy world and I am trying make it in reality!  So when someone commented on my patience with my children I knew, I knew that the Lord made me something more than I was capable of being on my own.
I know it sounds silly, it was just a two hour flight with two kids - it wasn't anything major - but to me it was. It was something that was hard for me and because my Father in Heaven loves me, He helped me get through it.  I gained a testimony that day of how acutely aware He is of us and how much He loves us.  When we need to be something more than we are, something more than what we think we can be, He will make up the difference.  Sometimes the situation because easier and sometimes we just simply become stronger and more able to carry our burdens.
I don't want to forget this.  I am trying to be better about recording these things and remembering because forgetting these moments and these lessons is so easy.