I Have Joy!

With joy I proclaim that we have not won this battle we were fighting for the past four years.  It is with joy because joy is something that NO ONE can take away.  Joy in trials is something that no one but a child of God could understand or know.  I know that I am HIS and HE is Mine.  Joy and thankfulness is all I feel as I write because I have riches that none of them will ever know.  I have the things that matter at the end of the day, at the end of life, and that matter in eternity.  I have my treasures in heaven and I have my treasures innumerable on earth.  To have salvation first and foremost is more than I deserve, a husband that is faithful, loving and kind.  Someone who loves me when I am weak and I can’t be all the wife he deserves.  Thankful that he washed me and lovingly held me in my darkest most painful moments.  When my head could barely rise up and the cries sounded through the long nights.  He took over my role as a housekeeper, homeschooler, and cook.  He laid down his own dreams to stay with me when I was depressed and crabby.  He carried the load and prayed each day for me.  There is no greater a man than the one that I am so blessed to be married to.  I am thankful for my five children, the ones who have had to go through this experience with us. These children who had to learn to do things most kids never have to do.  To watch their mother suffer and to be afraid to touch or come near me.  They watched me as I learned how to walk again after a terrible accident.  They saw me throwing up each day from medications that wasted my health away.  They saw me go crazy to the point of nearly being committed from trying hard to get off the medications.  And they loved me anyway.  They made me cards daily and prayed for mommy to get better again.  Cooking and cleaning and caring for me has been a role they had to learn over the past four years.  Not something I thought would have been the case.  I was their mother, I was the one to care for them, but I am thankful that they have learned how to care for others.  Really care.  So many people just do not care.  People measure success by dollars and cents, not by getting up and fighting each day to stay positive and look at all the things they do have. To care.  And I fought to get better because I had to.  I have 7 reasons each day to get out of bed and live life:  God, Mark, Miles, Molly, Megan, Mikey, and Mark Jr.  I will never give up my joy.  My joy is overflowing.  Peace from God flows through me.  At the end of the day, I have much more than money could ever buy.  I have LOVE, I have JOY, and I have PEACE.  You could have all the money, glory, and honor in all the world but if you have not love, you have nothing.  Love is enough for me.  For us.  I have something precious as I reflect on my life.  And I will always have joy in my home.  A happy family is a rare treasure indeed