“When Life Give You Lemons…Make Lemonade” – September 2006 Linn County Leader Column

Persecution; distress; suffering; (add your own word(s) here)…the list goes on and on.

Living on this pretty blue globe wasn’t meant to be all hunky-dory; yes, there are just more times than we care to admit that, sometimes, our lives aren’t really the candy-coated and shiny things that the mass media portrays via television sitcoms, dramas, or movies. Life is full of struggles; trials, and tribulations; and overall, it’s a learning process that takes a LONG time…and as we get older, we look back and reflect on those lessons learned.

In three words (say it with me now): life is hard.

There are days when even the most optimistic people look up to the heavens and ask, “Why me, Lord?” Don’t we all do that? My wife Jeannie says I can be too optimistic at times, and that I always look at my glass as being half-full instead of half-empty (actually, it’s usually all the way empty because I drank it all). Yet, my belief is that, in all things, there can always be a better side.

And that includes living our lives for the better.

Of course, there are those people on the flip side who call themselves pessimists–they will moan in agony and despair (like on the old TV show Hee Haw) and say, “That’s easier said than done. Why, I just had such-and-such done to me and so-and-so said this about me and…” Negativity seems to permeate from every pore in their bodies; perpetual frowns cover their faces. They want to feel better, but just don’t know how to get there.

There is an old saying that can cure a world of ills…it’s simple, yet profound: “When life gives you lemons…make lemonade.”

Some may complain, “I left my pitcher at home.” Better still are those excuses like, “Where’s the spoon to stir it with?” or “But I don’t have any sugar!” And all of those miss the mark, or at least the true meaning of the message. It’s not about what we want out of certain situations; it’s about what we can do with those circumstances to make turn out to be more palatable.

In all honesty, God does know what we go through, even when we don’t think He does. And He knows that those things in life that sometimes don’t make any sense at all are the exact things that we need to face in order to make us into better people. Troubles come and go; some are good, some are bad…but through everything, there can be a “silver lining” if we choose to see it that way. But we can only do that with the Lord’s help.

Even in our little area of northern Missouri, there is turmoil and strife—in our church community, in our home lives, in the workplace, in school. We can overlook these things and go with life as usual and eat our lemons happily, or we can tackle them head-on and smooth out the differences and disagreements we have…and make some really killer lemonade while we’re at it.

Here are some ways to do these things: learn to work together as One Body in Christ and help to heal divisions among churches and denominations; focus more on our kids and spouses and relatives, and spend more time together as families; learn to suck up our prideful selves and get along with our fellow co-workers and genuinely take an interest in them; and for the kids in school–they can reach out to a who maybe isn’t the most popular or best-liked…and be a friend to them regardless.

Some helpful facts about lemonade:

• It’s best served chilled; so too, are we at our best when we learn to get out of the way and “chill out.”

• It’s a drink that leaves you wanting more; so we should also want to do more for others in their lives and help them make their own refreshing “ life lemonade.”

It’s not easy to get the “sour” out of our lives and look at the sweeter side of things. We tend to hold grudges, fold our arms and pout with our lower lip stuck out for the whole world to see. I include myself in this description as well. And yet, slowly but surely, God is helping to squeeze those lemons into my pitcher of life, and together with Him, my wife, my kids, and my family and friends, I am able to concoct a beverage of happiness and joy that I can share with others

And I am truly thankful for that.

Lemons abound everywhere in our lives…so let’s go make some lemonade!

Richard likes his lemonade fairly tart with plenty of sugar. You can share your “life’s lemonade” recipes with him at sliceofhome@sbcglobal.net or via his online blog at http://sliceofhome.wordpress.com. His column appears monthly in the Linn County Leader.

Keywords: Linn County Leader, Slice of Home, lemonade, north Missouri, strife, One Body in Christ, pride, happiness, joy.