Hubby and I got to enjoy a meal, in a restaurant recently. What a joy it was to be seated at a table (indoors) and to have our meal served to us. We were also particularly impressed with how the restaurant had pivoted when indoor dining had been banned. They utilized one of their parking areas for covered seating which looked fantastic. In speaking with the owner, we learned that this outdoor seating was not going away, but has helped them to birth the idea of how to make this extra outdoor seating permanent and incorporated into their indoor seating. The owner said, “we had a choice, to curl up in a ball and cry or to think creatively. We chose to think creatively.”
It makes one think of the proverb, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
This pandemic year plus has been one of lemons … cases of lemons.
There is much that has been lost, missed. There have been sorrows, injustices and forced alterations to our lives.
There have also been discoveries, innovations and creativity that have been stirred into the mix.
Poet Mary Oliver said, “what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Wild, indicating the the unpredictability of our days. Precious, reminding us of the value of our life, our days.
John 10:10 tells us :
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.”
That is a verse about lemons. It is a verse that reminds us of how loved we mere mortals are, by the one who gives us breath.
Because sin (lemons) entered into our human DNA in the Garden, through the disobedience of man, we needed saving. Through the very son of God, whose willing death paid the price of that sin, we have been redeemed, made new. God could have left us as we were, but his love for us was too great for that.
Life delivers lemons … right to our doors. But we have been given the example of making something good, better out of what we are handed. What will we do with this pandemic (and the struggles and losses that have accompanied it)? What will we do with the other tough stuff, the sour stuff that enters into our days? Will we curl up in a ball and cry, or will we get creative, adding to the sour to create something sweet?
What will we do with this wild and precious life?
“I am the good shepherd.
The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” John 10:11
itsawonderfilledlife 