In our recent Lemons to Lemonade ladies’ event, I encouraged the ladies with a lemony reflection. If you get a good taste of lemon and really analyze the flavors present, they are all the flavors of life. Try it . . . . got your lemon? Ok – give it a taste. . . Taste a hint of sweetness (Trust me, it’s there – you might have to really search for it…) Isn’t that like life? There is sweetness, but boy, sometimes you have to search for it. And sometimes the sweetness is overpowered by all the other flavors present in our lives; like the bitterness of the pith and peeling.
Life has some pith and peeling too, and it can lead to bitterness, anger, and loss of faith. Some of the challenges we face are just plain out hard – they go far beyond the bitterness of the lemon – they can cost us our faith if we don’t find ways to seek out that bit of sweetness…
Then there’s that saltiness of the lemon. Oftentimes people who are on a low sodium diet add lemon to get the saltiness without the sodium. That saltiness represents the salty tears we shed when grief overtakes us. Life has its fair share of grief. It seems overwhelming sometimes, but the grief, like the saltiness of the lemon is only temporary when compared with the joy of eternity.
The strongest flavor of the lemon is the tang, the sour – which in my mind, represents those good challenges that God sends our way – the new jobs, the marriages, the expanding family – positive challenges that stretch us and make us grow. Challenges, that when we meet them (with God’s help, of course), build our faith, strengthen our reserve, and help us be ready to meet the next challenges that we will face.
Then we experience those bits of sweetness the lemon has to offer. Sometimes we enhance it with sugar and water and call it lemonade, but in its raw state – in all its glory, it is lemon, it is life – with all the flavors! So the next time life throws lemons your way, count it all joy, sip the sweetness, taste the challenge and don’t let the bitterness overpower the lemonade!
Father God, Help us taste all the flavors of the lemon, count all the joys of our life, and enjoy the lemonade you are serving up! Through Jesus, Amen
Life has some pith and peeling too, and it can lead to bitterness, anger, and loss of faith. Some of the challenges we face are just plain out hard – they go far beyond the bitterness of the lemon – they can cost us our faith if we don’t find ways to seek out that bit of sweetness…
Then there’s that saltiness of the lemon. Oftentimes people who are on a low sodium diet add lemon to get the saltiness without the sodium. That saltiness represents the salty tears we shed when grief overtakes us. Life has its fair share of grief. It seems overwhelming sometimes, but the grief, like the saltiness of the lemon is only temporary when compared with the joy of eternity.
The strongest flavor of the lemon is the tang, the sour – which in my mind, represents those good challenges that God sends our way – the new jobs, the marriages, the expanding family – positive challenges that stretch us and make us grow. Challenges, that when we meet them (with God’s help, of course), build our faith, strengthen our reserve, and help us be ready to meet the next challenges that we will face.
Then we experience those bits of sweetness the lemon has to offer. Sometimes we enhance it with sugar and water and call it lemonade, but in its raw state – in all its glory, it is lemon, it is life – with all the flavors! So the next time life throws lemons your way, count it all joy, sip the sweetness, taste the challenge and don’t let the bitterness overpower the lemonade!
Father God, Help us taste all the flavors of the lemon, count all the joys of our life, and enjoy the lemonade you are serving up! Through Jesus, Amen