I heard a really good sermon today about hardship. He said that the problem with Christians in the U.S. is that we have this mistaken idea that life is supposed to be easy. That it's not normal to have hard times. I am reminded of an old song:

I thank God for the mountains and I thank Him for the valleys
I thank Him for the storms He's brought me through.
For if I never had a problem, I wouldn't know that He could solve them ,
I wouldn't know what faith in His word could do.

My son said the other day that he wouldn't trade anything he's been through for an easier way. I'm glad he feels that way because he has learned that the good and the bad go together to make us into what God wants us to be. In order to learn everything we can about God we need both, so we can see how He is able to work through it all.