It is a new school year….and has been for two weeks for me. Christian started his school year last week. This school year greeted us with a barrage of set backs. A retirement of the Volvo station wagon, and a grown man getting Hand, Foot, Mouth disease just to highlight a few.

It always takes a minute for my family to adjust to the new school year, and these set backs also perfectly conincided with the Rooster refusing to sleep at night by herself. (“Let’s cuddle, Mom, All night! It will be awesome”….not awesome. Kid is a night sweat-er.) Long story short, it all became too much and I may have started snipping at my husband on the way out the door to women’s bible study.

I knew I didn’t want to fight because we were about to read James and isn’t that the part of the Bible about controling the tongue? I didn’t want to fight not because the Bible says I need to watch my mouth and respect and love my husband, but rather because I didn’t want to have to be convicted and then admitt that I am a jerk in front of the majority of the ladies at my church….Boy am I an A+ christian…..

Anyway, my plan didn’t work out and the pot boiled over, so much so that the Peanut was sitting at the table telling us “We don’t talk like that! Mommy, No talk like that!” This is hilarious because I wasn’t even aware she has heard me say that to her. She certainly doesn’t change her tone in response to it. But apparently she knows how we aren’t supposed to yell talk. In fact she may have gotten down from her booster seat “you okay mommy, you okay daddy?”

Yeah baby, we’re okay. Once talking kindly to each other and able to assure our oldest we in fact were okay, I drove to the new donut place to pick up my contribution to Saturday brunch. As I was waiting for the order I noticed the girl who was carefully placing my selection in the box. She had gone to my church for about 6 months and interviewed me for a paper she was writing about this community she was not a part of. She remembered my name and asked me about my kids. I remembered just how much I liked her. I felt the spirit pull at my heart. “I love this one, and I am trusting you with her. Love her well.”

We didn’t get to the tame the tongue part of James this week. Turns out that is chapter4. Instead we talked about the first chapter. Th part that tells us to “count it all Joy” when we face trials of any kind…especially the kind that seem to come out of nowhere. Especially the kind that won’t matter eternally.

And I will be honest with you. At first I was totally annoyed by this verse. I am really sorry James but I will not be singing zippity-do-dah while my baby barfs all over me and infects my husband with boils, and I will not be skipping down the halls when the car repair place called to tell us that the only thing wrong with the car was the computer chip that tells you what is wrong with the car, but that essentially totaled it. No I will not be joyous about this!

But that isn’t what James is saying. James is saying, my dear this is temporary. Do not let it distract you from bigger things, eternal things. You will one day be well rested, but right now I want you to love that sweet girl anyway. You will one day be unconcerned about car repair. This stuff doesn’t have to matter. You are right, it does suck butt. With Jesus it still sucks, but there is an end. There is an eternal perspective.

Christian’s reading load is insane this year and after just a week I am feeling the frazzled nerves of a PhD widow all over again. It sucks butt. But it is temporary. I know that this sucks, but it isn’t forever and I am sure it is the best thing for our family for now. Even when it sucks.

James isn’t telling me to put on a happy face. He is telling me this isn’t the end. There is a but…a big one