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Count It All Joy

Album: 18: A Time of Discovery

Episode: 225

Lesson/Theme: Joy.

Bible Verse: Nehemiah 8:10; James 1:2-4

Characters: Whit

Writer: Phil Lollar

Sound Designer: Dave Arnold

Original Air Date: March 27, 1993

Last Air Date: October 28, 2008

Description:
As Erica and Kim walk home from school together, Erica talks a mile a minute about how her life is so terrible and depressing. Kim listens patiently and tries to be sympathetic. But soon, she gets fed up and tells Erica that her life isn't that bad. She should try being happy once in a while. Later, at Whit's End, Erica runs into Jenny Roberts. Erica asks Jenny why she always seems to be happy despite her blindness. Jenny quotes James 1:2-3: "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." Jenny says she can be joyful about her blindness, because she knows that it brings her closer to Jesus. Whenever things get rough, she just says to herself, "Count it all joy, count it all joy." That usually does the trick. Erica thinks that's a great idea and tries it. But what works so well for Jenny seems to completely backfire for Erica. Instead of relieving Erica's frustrations, "counting it all joy" actually increases them, leading Erica to blow her top at Kim. Back at Whit's End, Erica relates her problem to Whit. Whit explains that Erica has confused joy with happiness. He says that everyone feels bad occasionally, but true joy has nothing to do with feelings. Joy is being rooted in Christ and what He did for us on the cross. Erica returns to Kim and apologizes. She understands now that she can't always be happy and shouldn't always be sad. Instead, she now wants to live on a higher ground, a foundation called joy.

Questions:
Why did Erica think her life was so depressing? Did Jenny give Erica good or bad advice when she said to just repeat "Count it all joy, count it all joy"? Should Jenny have said something else instead? Have you found the difference between joy and happiness? Explain your answer.