Lemons Into Lemonade By Dr. Juan Harrison
Lemons Into Lemonade
A wise man once said to have endured a tough situation and not learned anything from it is one of the greatest tragedies in our lives. Hard times will come. The Bible says rain falls on the just and the unjust. We’ve all seen the bumper sticker that says it more plainly.
Thirty minutes before we’re to start our Christmas Eve family celebration and meal, I’m on my way with my son and daughter-in-law to the ER. She’s in excruciating pain. Like some of you tough women have experienced, she momentarily ignored the warning signs of your women’s common maladies, only to catch the plane, as her complaints increased as the infection spread. A lot of you can say, “Been there, done that.” How many times do us busy mortals say we’re okay when your body days, “Taint so.” After a couple of IVs and some heavy pain medicine we were dismissed to our home while a flying trip was made to Rockwall to get some medications from a 24-hour Walgreens on Christmas Eve. Hopefully a happy ending.
As I sat in the little patient room watching her writhing in pain, I prayed with and for her. I reminded her that God was with her now. As the medications in the lines began to ease her distress, we were able to share sweet fellowship. She was effusive in her apologies for making me miss Christmas and genuinely sincere in her gratefulness to my wife and me for all the support and love we’ve been blessed to share with her and my son’s family.
The bottom line is under normal circumstances she and I probably wouldn’t ever have had an opportunity for me to get to know her heart amidst her pain and suffering. Sometimes God just want to draw us closer to Him, be it sickness or death of a loved one. He just may want some one-on-one time in the midst of a crazy, busy hectic time in our lives. Presents come and go. Hopefully there will be other Christmases, maybe a little less eventful. Still, I cherish the time I got to spend with my daughter-in-law, who in truth has come to be like one of the daughters we never had. God spared a possible daughter’s embarrassment of being followed around on dates by her dad. Two hairy legged boys spared me the stalker experience. Raising boys is challenging enough. Having to worry over and feel the need to give extra protection to a sweet young daughter raises the stress level of most mortal dads like me. Then again getting all that extra affection from them growing up is a special blessing.
Lemons into lemonade. God doesn’t take something away from us without replacing it with something equally good or even better. All things in His time. We lose a loved one, and He sends a grandbaby or maybe a neighbor child to be a part of a whole new relationship. Happiness is a choice. Stuff happens, often at the least convenient time. There’s talk about doing away with Daylight Savings Time. I say good riddance. Let’s just replace it with God time year-round.
By Dr. Juan Harrison
