Today I spent 40 minutes on the phone with the IRS.

Today I had to make the dreaded call to the IRS. I've needed to make this call for a while but today I finally ran out of excuses for not doing it. Let me back up and tell you why I had to call the IRS. You see, it all started four years ago when my husband went to work for himself. When he needed someone to pay bills, reconcile bank accounts, and cut paychecks he naturally thought of me. Yeah right (he once told me that I should never tutor our kids in math)! The other logical reason for thinking of me was my vast education in... Recreational Therapy ?!? I used to be your cheerful activity director keeping the senior citizens happily entertained. Does it seem strange to anyone else that I am doing his books? Truth be told, sometimes you just do what you have to do. As I was saying, today I called the IRS. I began with the obligatory automated statement "Please listen carefully as our options have changed". I then navigated my way through about 50 choices and then said "one" 50 times and then eventually gave up on that and pressed "1" 50 times. Let me tell you, I was exhausted and hadn't even spoken to a person yet. Then the automation must have gotten stuck- why else would it confirm my id number not once, not twice, but three times! I then waited for 28 minutes to some very loud classical music being interrupted every 90 seconds with "please remain on the line, calls are answered in the order they were received". Now, the fact that they needed to state this policy made me wonder if the opposite wasn't really true. Perhaps, those who owe the most money got their calls answered first (conspiracy theory- who me?). I consoled myself choosing to believe that since I had to wait so long I must be up to date on all of our payments. Finally, I got to a real live, living person- or so I thought. The guy who answered had the most monotoned voice I have ever heard. I couldn't have cast a better IRS man in a sitcom. He fulfilled every stereotype of an IRS man there ever was. He sounded just like Ben Stein (the Visine commercial guy). To be honest I wasn't sure at first if it wasn't another automated message. He actually answered "you have reached the Internal Revenue Service, my number is XXXXX, my name is Mr. XXXX." Once I determined that he was indeed a person, I just couldn't help myself. Bubbly Bev came out. I thought about asking him sarcastically if he enjoyed his job, but since I did actually need his help, I decided it would be better to keep that to myself. I threw my all into sounding chipper and upbeat. In the beginning it did not go well. As I mentioned, I don't know much about accounting and he kept throwing these words at me that I didn't understand. At one point, I blamed my accountant for not calling and begged him to help me in English. It turns out that since I am not listed as an owner, he couldn't tell me the information I needed over the phone but he slyly mentioned that he could mail it to me. Wow! He really helped me out. You know what, by the end of the conversation I think I actually heard him crack a smile. Wouldn't it be wonderful if when the world thought of Christians, they thought of people who were filled with joy? Too many times, the world sees Christians as grumpy people who like to complain. It is the joy that can ONLY come from God that will change someone. What do people see when they look at you? A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:21-23