Later, when I went to the nursery, I looked at my baby sleeping in his incubator, and I was happy.
Mama always talked to Taylor and me about faith. Sometimes she'd wrap her wide arms around us and hold us close and read the scriptures to us, word for word. But other times, she'd just sit one of us on each knee and talk to us about her life. She'd tell us how Jesus brought her a mighty long way, and that even though she didn't know where our father was at the time, she trusted God to change him and bring him home. Now that was big faith because in all the years of my growing up, I don't remember my daddy ever staying in one place too long. Yes, Mama had faith, and she spoke it over, and into, her girls' lives. I finally understood it and embraced it.
Some people have asked what joy is. I said it was a peace in your spirit, coming from the inside but spilling over on to the outside. Sometimes joy looked like it came in stagesâa miracle here or deliverance there, but real joy was constant. It was faith in God's Word, His will, and His way. There was no doubt in my mind what I knew about joy. I guessed it was God speaking it to me Himself, but I knew what joy was supposed to be. Just never quite got it 'til now. Just couldn't truly feel it 'til now. Lack of understanding, I imagined. It was like that at timesâI just didn't know enough to bring myself out. Then I realized I had to go back and fill up on moreâmore of God, that is. He was the only one I needed when it came to real joy.
Epilogue
Alex
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Of course, Taylor and Keith became an old married couple, with the two of them working at the Push It Fitness Center and making it truly the best gym in the city. Me and the ladies of Giving Life Ministry met at the center twice a week. Taylor never gave up hope for her healing.
She just didn't put God on a timetable, deciding that she and Keith were good together whether or not she could walk on her own.
Joshua and Mother Benning finally came to a compromise. Joshua agreed he would be the interim assistant pastor at Kingdom House for at least a year. This would allow Bishop Benning to fully recuperate since his cancer was in remission. It would also allow his parents time to select a suitable person to serve as senior pastor.
Even though the embezzlement scandal was over and he was offered his old job back, Joshua declined to return to the bank.
After much prayer and meditation, we decided it was time to step out in faith and go into full-time ministry.
After a few months, with the salary he made as assistant pastor at Kingdom House, we were able to pay off all our debts and make a decent down payment on an old apartment building in lower Manhattan. We were also able to move into a three-bedroom apartment on the fourth floor, rent out two apartments on the third floor, and start to renovate the first and second floors for the church. Now there would really be room for Giving Life Ministry as soon as that part of the building was fixed up. I was excited about working on that.
With the additional income from the tenants, I was able to stay at home with Lilah and Joshua Jr., and I was finally “Mommy.” The best part was that we were able to adopt Kiano about ten months later. We spent a few months in Kenya with Kiano, finalized everything, and brought him back with us. As it turned out, the orphanage received much-needed funding from a British missionary group and was never demolished. So the Mercy Group Home in Kenya continued to do God's will, which was to take care of His children.
Joshua, Lilah, Joshua Jr., Kiano, and I were finally a real family, dancing in God's goodness, living, forgiving, and counting it all joy.
Reading Group Discussion Questions
1. Why was Alex afraid of trying to have Joshua's baby?
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2. Why was Joshua adamant about having a baby, specifically a son, so soon?
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3. Do you think their trying to have a baby so soon was a healthy way to begin their marriage? Why or why not?
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4. Do you think it was right for Alex to pressure her husband about Kiano's adoption?
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5. How do you think Alex should have handled the adoption issue differently?
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6. Why do you think Lilah refused to call Alex “Mommy”?
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7. Why do you think Joshua was not suspicious of Simon when he first discovered the missing money?
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8. Why couldn't Taylor just marry her true love, Keith, from the beginning?
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9. Do you think that Seger was in love with Alex, or was he just being friendly?
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10. Do you think Alex's relationship with Seger was emotional adultery? Why or why not?
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11. Do you think Joshua was compromising by being the interim assistant pastor at Kingdom House of Prayer?
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12. Do you think Mother Benning was right to push her son into pastoring at Kingdom House of Prayer?
Urban Books, LLC
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Count It All Joy Copyright © 2011 Ashea S. Goldson
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
ISBN: 978-1-5998-3232-6
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