I don’t know how my mother has survived all these years as she listens to me blather on the phone. I really have no idea.

Thank you, mom, for the collective hours you have spent listening to me ramble.

I call to tell her about my day, about what is weighing down on me, about the problem I have with x, y or z and a full laundry list of other things.

If you look at her cellphone history, I’m sure 90 percent of it is me calling her.

The other day, we had a conversation about some disheartening information I’d come across, and how I was having a hard time with it. She has this amazing way of taking my complaints, adding some insight and hope and giving me a lesson to live by.

It’s seriously uncanny, and I haven’t mastered that ninja-mom trick yet.

She let me have my time to talk, and when I paused she said, “But just think about what Jesus went through here on earth. Here he is in the middle of these people who should love him and care for him, but instead they plot to kill him.”

Jesus was faced with the most humiliating, violent and painful treatment the world could provide, but instead of being angry, he said “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Sometimes, when I throw myself a pity party, it’s nice to have that dose of reality to wake me up.

With gentle guidance and wisdom, my mom reminded me that No. 1 – it’s really not that bad.

Even though circumstances make a certain occurrence appear like the end of the world, it really isn’t. Worse things can and do happen. I should be thanking my lucky stars for the life I lead, not dwelling on the negative.

The second part of that steaming hot cup of truth was that Jesus never said or showed us that our lives would be without pain, displeasure, suffering and the like.

Instead, he told us to expect it in John 16:33, saying, “In the world you will have tribulation.”

But, he didn’t end there.

Jesus left hope at the end of his warning of hardship, thank goodness.

“But take heart; I have overcome the world,” he said in the same verse.

According to Collins English Dictionary, to “take heart” means to become encouraged.

When facing adversity, negativity, pain, sorrow and other states of discomfort or displeasure in the world, we should be aware and expect hardship – but, we should also be encouraged because Christ has already won.

In my experience, one of the worst things about a bad or negative situation is not knowing what the outcome will be and feeling alone in the midst of it. It is hard to get through the darkness by yourself, especially if you don’t know what’s on the other side.

Yet thankfully, we can have the assurance that whatever we face here and now no matter what it is has already been championed by Christ. We do not walk our paths alone, but rather Christ has gone before us and travels with us so that we need not be afraid.

Take heart, dear friends. How much more encouraging can it get?

As an aside, if you are feeling discouraged and downtrodden, give your mom a call. Who knows what you’ll walk away with.