Got Lemons?

"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."

I've heard that saying as long as I can remember. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with making something positive out of a negative situation or something like that. Honestly, I think it's kind of a corny saying. But it got me thinking about something I do every day. I give God lemons. Every. Single. Day.

Exasperating my kids. Lemon.

Irritation with my husband. Lemon.

Being all judgy and self-righteous. Lemony lemon.

Selfishness. Lemon.

I hurl these lemons at God every day. Some days it's like rapid fire. And in spite of me, He turns them into lemonade. I think the biblical term is "grace", but here we'll call it lemonade.

My kids forgiving me after I've yelled at them. Lemonade.

My husband's pursuit of me even when I shut him out. Lemonade.

God reminds me I sooo don't have my act together so maybe I shouldn't be so judgmental. Lemonade.

And when I finally realize that my selfishness just makes me a more self-centered person which actually makes me more insecure. Lemonade.

See, the thing about God is He's not afraid of my lemons. He's not worried about what He's going to do with them. He's not up in Heaven saying, "Seriously? This is what you're giving me to work with?" He simply takes my lemons and squeezes something good out of them. And says, "Here, Love (I think He calls me Love), I made this for you." God always gets the raw end of the deal and somehow I always make out like a bandit. He's sort of amazing like that. It's not like I want to give Him lemons. I don't mean to. But then I wake up late and the kids aren't up and I need to make lunches and homework's not done and shoes aren't on and teeth aren't brushed and we're going to be late for the bus. And that's when it happens. I lose it. Like bad. And I launch a big, fat, juicy lemon right up at God.

And let me be clear, God doesn't excuse my lemons. He doesn't say they're no big deal. He makes me recognize them and name them and ask forgiveness for them. And that's when the goodness comes. It's when I recognize my need for Him that He pours out His goodness on me. On those kinds of mornings, goodness looks like my daughter waiting to get on the bus and running back to me to give me a kiss even though I've yelled at her all morning. It's then that I see the grace of God in my daughter. She didn't have to come back and give me a kiss before school. She did simply because she loves me, no matter what.

So no, I will not be making any lemonade out of the lemons I get in this life. It's way beyond my scope of expertise. But I know who to give the lemons to and He makes lemonade better than Country Time. Yeah, that was pretty cheesy.

Got lemons?