Count it All Joy.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything…”

-James 1:2

Whenever I was little, my Mom always played these tapes in the car for my sister and I anytime we would go anywhere. They were called Adventures in Odyssey from Focus on the Family, and they were these short stories that told a bible lesson. I remember them SO vividly.. today, the one called “Count it all Joy” came to my mind.

My day looked a little something like this.. And this is how all Tuesdays and Thursdays look. Wake up at 6:45 am, drag 2 boys out of bed (one whom is really cranky like a teenager), dress them, feed them breakfast, and somewhere in there, dress myself (which basically consists of throwing on some clothes that I picked up off the floor) and head out the door by 7:45 am.

Drop them at their daycare about 7:50, where Cooper proceeds to hang on my leg and cry. My heart breaks into 1,000,000 pieces, and I then run to my car, and speed to work trying to break my record to see how fast I can possibly get to work. 8:01- I made it!

There is usually a line of about 5 patients waiting for me to open the doors, check them in, and put on a smile while my hair is looking like a rat’s nest, my clothes are hideous, and I’m still half asleep.

Lunch is at noon if I get lucky, and run to Sonic or some other equally unhealthy place and eat in my car, call to check on my kids at daycare and get “the bite report” on Cooper… drag myself back to work instead of just driving myself the other way and never coming back! Haha

Work until 5:00, which includes running around the building meeting various deadlines at a moments notice, and dealing with really rude people who think my life revolves around my job.

Then I go directly from work to Biology class, where I stare into space for 2 hours, and wonder just how confused everyone else in the class is. My teacher is from India or somewhere and I can understand about every fifth word he says. He likes to call on me at least 3 times every class… and I stumble through some pathetic answer and wonder how much everyone is laughing at me. I hate science with a passion and I’m just taking this class to pass it and get through it. 2 hours go by, my head is hurting, my body is hurting, I haven’t seen my kids in 12 hours, I’m hungry, I’m clueless, and did I mention tired?

Then I get home about 7:45, see my kids for about 15 minutes, and put them to bed.

Ahh.. silence at least. Time to write and do homework!

I live for the weekends… But just going through what I do on Tuesdays and Thursdays is enough to make me appreciate Mon, Wed, and Friday!! It’s amazing how that works. When I “only” have to work 9 hours.. and pick my kids up at 5:15, that’s like a break!

My point here is (and yes I do have one)… that even though things seem tough, we should remember to "Count it all Joy"… because as the verse says, everything we go through is teaching us patience and perseverance, which eventually has to lead to something greater.

I may be tired, but I’m alive!!… and at the end of a 12+ hour day, I have these 2 precious little boys standing at the front door in their underwear and a diaper smiling and saying “ Mama, we missed you!” That's makes it all worth it.

Count it All Joy!