Sometimes you have to hit a new month in the face with FAITH right out the gate. Tell yourself that no matter what it looks like, I will be blessed, and everything that concerns me will be blessed. Since June, I have been spending my time off my bike and in the house getting it in order, purging it, cleaning, and organizing it. I want to have everything under control when fall hits, so I can ride with a clear conscience when cooler temperatures prevail. I don’t know about you, but I can’t thoroughly enjoy riding my bike knowing I have a house full of chords waiting on me when I get back home.

So, I have broken my chores into daily weekday tasks that free up my weekends, and so far, it’s been working out great! It feels so good waking up in the morning and seeing everything in order, ready to greet a new day, and while I sip my coffee and have my prayer time, and even though I have missed a lot of ride time, looking around my home and see everything loved and cared for, I count it all Joy!

I have taken Mrs. Cavatica out for a quick late evening spin around the neighborhood when the sun goes down, man! I Miss riding her. And it’s in that moment that I realize God has blessed me with options, Options that most people don’t have. I can sit in the coolness and comfort of my home or hop on my bike and sweat it out. I was blessed with the bike I prayed for and believed God for; and for that, I count it all Joy!

As a Baker and Pastry chef, I preserve my own line of Homemade Fig Jams. This time two years ago, my fig tree “Misty,” our Desert King Fig Tree, produced over 80 pounds of golf-ball-size figs. The harvest was so great that I had canned about 100 jars of fig jam, and most were sold before the Pop-Up Shop, turning it into a Pick-Up Spot.

This year, not so much. Between Ice storm Uri of 2021 and the Heatwave this year, I could only harvest about 3 pounds of Figs and was only able to can about 13 jars of jam. A sad offering compared to the harvest of 2019. It broke my heart, and I was highly disappointed as I picked quarter-sized figs from her. Until I heard the Spirit of God say as I picked her fruit, reluctantly, “With this offering, count it all joy.” Tears filled my eyes because I realized I was not pleased and content with what Misty had produced. I was so use to my Fig tree giving me an abundance of golf-ball-size figs yearly. I didn’t consider the toll of the Ice storm Uri took on her in 2021 and the Heatwave we have been experiencing this year; no rain and being under a State Mandated watering reaction would hinder her production. And yet! she still gave what she could, despite the harsh weather conditions Texas has been having.

Every season has a lesson, and as I picked what little fruit Misty, our fig tree, offered this Fig season, I learned to “Count it All Joy.” No matter what. I love how James 1:2-8 states this.

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.

As a woman of Faith, one of the hardest lessons I believe we must learn is how to be joyful amidst pain and suffering. What does it mean to “Count it all joy”? The concept here is the idea of reckoning of considering. We are to think of what we are going through as a matter of Joy, not because the thing itself is pleasurable, but because tribulation works patience within us. At least one good thing happens to us during pain and suffering. 

So, I didn’t pick 80 pounds of Figs, allowing me to preserve over 100 jars of fresh homemade Fig Jam to sell at a pop-up store this year, but at least I have something…right?! And my clients who LOVE! My Homemade Fig Jam won’t be disappointed. And for that, I’m grateful. I made the best of what Misty gave me and saw my Father in heaven “still giving” me something good to preserve during a dry season. So, if you are in a dry season and it looks like all hope is lost. Look for the Joy in your situation or circumstance, whatever is trying your Faith. Trust God and give Him praise for whatever little fruit that is being produced in your Dry Season!

Declaration of Faith for Counting it all Joy!

I consider it pure Joy whenever I find myself facing trials and tribulations (to give up on my Faith) of every kind; for I know that the testing of my Faith produces in me enduring patience and once this patience becomes an unfailing part of my character (when I am mature and complete in it) I will lack no good thing in my life.

I fully understand that Jesus has become my wisdom. God does not keep it from me, saying that I can’t have it because I’ve done something wrong, but supplies it to me literally, holding nothing back. All of his wisdom is rightfully mine in His name.

When I ask for wisdom, or anything else, I must not reason against my receiving it. A person who reasons against the promises of God is like a wave on the sea driven and tossed about whatever direction the wind might blow (or whichever way the circumstances may lead).
This type of person seldom receives anything from the Lord and cannot walk in his inheritance. They are double-minded and unstable in all of their ways.

I remain fixed and unwavering in my Faith regardless of what my eyes may see, what my ears may hear, or what my body may feel, for I know that God is faithful and will fulfill his promise to me.

Acts 5:4; Matthew 3:11, 15, 16; 5:10-12; 21:19-22; 2 Peter 1:6; Romans 5:3-5; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2:6-16; Daniel 1:17, 20; 2:22,23; Mark 11:22-25; Hebrews 6:12; Psalm119:109-116; Jeremiah 29:11-13; James 4:8

Love,

La and Mrs. Cavatica