Lemon Tree...very pretty...

I used to hate the phrase, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!” I thought it was trite and silly…that is until life gave me some major lemons!! I struggled through tears to make whatever lemonade I could from the hard situations in my life. Lemonade is suppose to be refreshing but you can’t have it without first squeezing those bitter fruits!! It is from a pitcher of lemonade that I learned some valuable lessons.

Psalm 1 talks about the righteous and says, “We are planted by streams of water,” …streams are fresh waters…or if you will “living” water. Crystal clear and fresh…it is needed for the young sapling to grow…and to eventually bear fruit. Often, if we move away from the stream, we suffer a drought…we need water. Isaiah 55: 1 tells us to “come” to the waters” and as we drink deeply we grow and soon sweet smelling blooms appear---we know the peace of God and believe things are going to be great! In time the blooms fall and fruit begins to develop; we are often surprised that the fruit is a lemon. We taste it and find it bitter and try desperately to make lemonade but find the result to be only cloudy water. We can no longer see clearly…we wonder if the water will ever be translucent again?

Life isn’t fair but it was never going to be no matter what we wanted! Jesus told His disciples, “In this world you are going to have trouble…but be of good cheer…I have overcome the world!” John 16:33. Even in knowing that, we must deal with cloudy water and bitterness. It is hard. What can we do and what if we don’t like lemonade!!??

Consider the ingredients of lemonade: water, lemons and sugar.

◊ The water obviously is Jesus--the living water
◊ The sugar is His Grace given by the Holy Spirit placing His peace and comfort in the hard times of our lives
◊ The lemons, obviously, represent the hardships of the world.

I learned two basic lessons from my pitcher of lemonade. I learnedthat the three components, once mixed, are inseparable. Once we go through a hardship it will always be a part of us and we need to discover how to deal with it. We can have victory! And I learned that the largest component in the pitcher is always the water.

So how does knowing this help us in times of trials? Some will add more lemons and allow bitterness to take over in their lives but that doesn’t help! Others might want to add more sugar to just feel better but after awhile, even that becomes undrinkable. The more I reflected on this it was apparent that I needed to add more water. So I did and the taste definitely changed…so I added more and more water until before long, I could barely taste the lemons…there was a faint flavor but no longer bitter…no longer sour. I tasted mostly water. Do you get it?? When we add more living water in our lives, the taste of the world is less.

It is about our focus! If we focus on the lemons (the hardships) we will want to add more sugar… but if we focus on the water (Jesus and His purposes) that solves the problem. That is what Jesus meant when He said, “I have overcome the world.” He overcomes the bitterness of life. The way we deal with lemons is not just making lemonade but to continue adding the living water. Focus on the water not the lemons nor the sweetener but the one who said he would always be with us.

We started with Psalm 1…being planted by the living water and that is how to deal with lemons…they are going to come….but if we stay planted by the Living Water, eventually we have the victory…and this focus brings the spiritual refreshing we think about when we think about lemonade…it quenches our deep thirsts. We become stronger and even though we might have preferred no lemons, we can use them as a conduit for desiring more of the living water Christ offers. So drink up!! When life gives you lemons…add water!!!! Living water!

The Wait

Every woman knows, with fall in the air, wardrobe changes are inevitable. I love the colors and the textures of nubby sweaters (and the fact that many imperfections are hidden is just icing on the cake!!) Now, I am not really a stylish person but I love the sweaters this year…long…some below the knees. Yay!! More coverage! I have seen these on others and thought if I ever found one, I would get it.

Labor Day weekend 2010! While visiting my son and his wife in Texas, my daughter- in-law and I went shopping for her birthday. As we walked into the Dress Barn, I saw “it!” A bright light seemingly came down and illuminated the sweater of my dreams. It was beautiful…a mixture of brown and black with ruffles all the way to the knees. The store had very few customers so I decided to “think’ about it while my daughter-in-law tried on her choices. After about 20 minutes we headed to the checkout counter where “the sweater” had been displayed---but where was it? The mannequin once clad in splendor was strangely bare in only a tank top. I felt panic rising as I asked the sales associate about it to which she replied, pointing, “That lady over there got it to try on!” What??? Where had she come from and why would she want MY sweater? I became a crazy woman!! I paced, telling myself that she hadn’t bought it yet…there was hope…and so I waited…and waited…was she trying on the whole store??? She was too short for the sweater anyway!! Couldn’t she see that? Finally she emerged from the dressing room and returned “my” sweater to the sales associate who quickly brought it to this crazy, pacing woman. I had not even tried the sweater on but I had no choice but to purchase it! I left the store tightly clutching this find! My daughter-in-law just shook her head! (She does that a lot when I am around!)

Yes, sometimes we do really crazy things for even crazier reasons. Usually, I don’t try to make a spectacle of myself, really I don’t. I want to be sophisticated and calm but when I am passionate about things, I forget all of that. For years I found myself being less than passionate about what Christ had done for me. I had always been a good kid and so Christianity was just status quo attached to redemption. I lived like that for so many years…I was in church every time the doors were opened but mostly it was because I had to go. I would sit there quietly covering up those “pesky” sins not wanting anyone to know, all the while searching for something “more” but didn’t know what “it” was until I had what I call an Isaiah 6 Experience when I realized who I was compared to a Holy God. It was as if a shining light came down illuminating my unworthiness. I knew I had been found out! At that moment I knew that was what I had been looking for! I wanted more than anything for this Holy God to love me to which He reminded me that He did and that I no longer had to hide those imperfections…He knew about them and His Son’s blood had taken them away. When I came up from this experience, I was different. Truth changes us! I became crazy about Him!! My worship changed…I was passionate about Him and I didn’t care who knew it!

I came upon a scripture in 2 Corinthians 5: 13. If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. Paul got it!! David got it, too, when he entered Jerusalem with the Ark of the Covenant and danced! God had shown them “more!” God had shown me “more!” He wants to show the world His “more!” He wants to cloth us in His splendor…but we have to rid ourselves of all preconceived ideas of who we are and what we want? Are we willing to be a little “crazy” for Him? When we are people will notice…some might think we are crazy but we will be grasping onto the most important find of our lives as we walk! Each time I wear my sweater, I think I will remember this!