Justin woke up with a fairly good temperament and ate a big donut for breakfast.

But his mood quickly darkened when it was time for oral meds. He spit out medication, kicked and screamed, “I hate you!”

He is taking a very strong steroid, which, his doctor told us, will cause mood changes like anger and aggressive behavior.

We are trying to navigate his mood swings and defiance with love and sympathy. But we have to stay firm about enforcing what he needs to do.

I have been thinking about this. I think staying firm and expecting obedience will be especially important when we get home. We want to make him as comfortable as we can, but we can’t let him run the show. It wouldn’t be fair to his brothers, whom would expect the same treatment. Then…chaos.

This will inevitably result in a lot of tough calls going forward. Another layer of difficulty on top of many.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13