Lemonade

"If life deals you lemons, make lemonade."

Sounds great, I love lemonade, but life isn't throwing lemons right now. So answer me this, what do you do when life throws you things that knock you off your feet? I suggest landing on your knees.

This February, one could say that I, along with my entire family, was thrown something that none of us expected; it came in the form of an EF4 tornado. You know the story, so I'll spare the details. It had a lot more impact than David not being able to walk for a while (a short while, considering the circumstances). Life changes, and sometimes we're not ready to adjust, and I found myself in that position in 2008. First of all, my brother's life was completely changed, and that in itself was impact enough. But I also found myself becoming a servant, and for 6 months, I did mostly whatever my brother told me to do, despite becoming frustrated and impatient several times. All this to say that in 2008, life changed, and I wasn't ready for the adjustment.

Another change was that nearly all of my closest friends graduated, a very exciting time for them and for me. As the days counted down until they left for college, I began realizing how much different life would be without them there. With friends going to Chicago, Georgia, Nashville, Tallahassee, and other places, I knew it would be tough to see them. When they all left, it was much harder than I ever anticipated. But just as I did after the tornado, I adjusted, and life went on.

All this goes to say, life doesn't always throw lemons at you. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. A little cliche-ish, but it's true. I wasn't prepared for what God had in store for me in 2008, but I learned to adjust, and things have been going uphill recently. To quote a Pam Thum song, "Life is hard, but God is good." Can I get an amen from my fellow Southern Baptists? Because that is the truth, plain and simple, and it's what I've lived by when times get tough.

A friend of mine, also going through a tough situation (details excluded), recently said, "It blows my mind that anyone could stand to survive something like this without God." I found myself asking that hundreds of times throughout this year. Whenever it felt like I couldn't go on, I asked the ever-reliant God to supply more strength, and he always did. So I began wondering, "What does someone do if they don't have anyone to turn to?" It puzzled me, and I began realizing how blessed we are as Christians. Not because we get to say we are better than everyone else, because we're not. And not because we are blessed financially or socially. We are blessed because we have someone to turn to when times get rough. We have someone to turn to when we can't rely on human strength anymore.

So let's face it, life is going to throw you things that knock you off your feet. I encourage all of you who are in this situation to simply land on your knees. Pray for strength, pray for guidance. There were three or four times this year that were so bad that I truly thought I couldn't go on. Yet in all of these situations, I ended up on my knees in prayer, the place I needed to be most. Prayer is powerful; believe me, I have seen evidence of that.

If life is throwing you lemons, be thankful, and make lemonade if you want. But be ready, tough times are inevitably coming. Stand on the Rock; all other paths lead to failure and frustration.

"On Christ the Solid Rock I stand; All other ground is sinking sand!"