diff --git a/metrics/metrics.go b/metrics/metrics.go
index 9d89190..805515a 100644
--- a/metrics/metrics.go
+++ b/metrics/metrics.go
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ import (
 type counter struct {
 	startTime time.Time
 	count     uint64
-	total     uint64
 }
 
 // Counter providers a threadsafe counter to use for storing long running counts
@@ -26,7 +25,7 @@ type Counter interface {
 
 // NewCounter initializes a counter starting at time.Now() and a count of 0 and returns it
 func NewCounter() Counter {
-	c := &counter{startTime: time.Now(), count: 0, total: 0}
+	c := &counter{startTime: time.Now(), count: 0}
 	return c
 }
 
diff --git a/server.go b/server.go
index 0c02b07..e874510 100644
--- a/server.go
+++ b/server.go
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ func (s *Server) Run(acn connectivity.ACN) error {
 	log.Infof("cwtch server running on cwtch:%s\n", addressIdentity+".onion:")
 	s.metricsPack.Start(service, s.config.ConfigDir, s.config.ServerReporting.LogMetricsToFile)
 
-	ms, err := storage.InitializeSqliteMessageStore(path.Join(s.config.ConfigDir, "cwtch.messages"))
+	ms, err := storage.InitializeSqliteMessageStore(path.Join(s.config.ConfigDir, "cwtch.messages"), s.metricsPack.MessageCounter)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("could not open database: %v", err)
 	}
diff --git a/storage/message_store.go b/storage/message_store.go
index f666629..7cbb274 100644
--- a/storage/message_store.go
+++ b/storage/message_store.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package storage
 
 import (
 	"cwtch.im/cwtch/protocol/groups"
+	"git.openprivacy.ca/cwtch.im/server/metrics"
 	"database/sql"
 	"encoding/base64"
 	"fmt"
@@ -18,7 +19,8 @@ type MessageStoreInterface interface {
 
 // SqliteMessageStore is an sqlite3 backed message store
 type SqliteMessageStore struct {
-	database *sql.DB
+	messageCounter metrics.Counter
+	database       *sql.DB
 
 	// Some prepared queries...
 	preparedInsertStatement *sql.Stmt // A Stmt is safe for concurrent use by multiple goroutines.
@@ -34,7 +36,7 @@ func (s *SqliteMessageStore) Close() {
 
 // AddMessage implements the MessageStoreInterface AddMessage for sqlite message store
 func (s *SqliteMessageStore) AddMessage(message groups.EncryptedGroupMessage) {
-
+	s.messageCounter.Add(1)
 	// ignore this clearly invalid message...
 	if len(message.Signature) == 0 {
 		return
@@ -105,7 +107,7 @@ func (s *SqliteMessageStore) compileRows(rows *sql.Rows) []*groups.EncryptedGrou
 
 // InitializeSqliteMessageStore creates a database `dbfile` with the necessary tables (if it doesn't already exist)
 // and returns an open database
-func InitializeSqliteMessageStore(dbfile string) (*SqliteMessageStore, error) {
+func InitializeSqliteMessageStore(dbfile string, messageCounter metrics.Counter) (*SqliteMessageStore, error) {
 	db, err := sql.Open("sqlite3", dbfile)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Errorf("database %v cannot be created or opened %v", dbfile, err)
@@ -121,6 +123,7 @@ func InitializeSqliteMessageStore(dbfile string) (*SqliteMessageStore, error) {
 	log.Infof("Database Initialized")
 	slms := new(SqliteMessageStore)
 	slms.database = db
+	slms.messageCounter = messageCounter
 
 	sqlStmt = `INSERT INTO messages(signature, ciphertext) values (?,?);`
 	stmt, err := slms.database.Prepare(sqlStmt)
diff --git a/storage/message_store_test.go b/storage/message_store_test.go
index 6d9c9a4..97316d5 100644
--- a/storage/message_store_test.go
+++ b/storage/message_store_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package storage
 
 import (
 	"cwtch.im/cwtch/protocol/groups"
+	"git.openprivacy.ca/cwtch.im/server/metrics"
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"git.openprivacy.ca/openprivacy/log"
 	"os"
@@ -13,7 +14,8 @@ func TestMessageStore(t *testing.T) {
 	filename := "../testcwtchmessages.db"
 	os.Remove(filename)
 	log.SetLevel(log.LevelDebug)
-	db, err := InitializeSqliteMessageStore(filename)
+	counter := metrics.NewCounter()
+	db, err := InitializeSqliteMessageStore(filename, counter)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("Error: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -37,6 +39,9 @@ func TestMessageStore(t *testing.T) {
 		db.AddMessage(message)
 	}
 	t.Logf("Time to Insert: %v", time.Since(start))
+	if counter.Count() != numMessages {
+		t.Errorf("Counter should be at %v was %v", numMessages, counter.Count())
+	}
 
 	// Wait for inserts to complete..
 	fetchedMessages := db.FetchMessages()