Sit down and pour yourself a cold glass of lemonade or your drink of choice, because this one is worth a little indulging and sipping slowly.

I have to admit, a few weeks ago the thought of turning fifty-five did not sit pretty with me. One night, while laying in bed, I looked at the ceiling and yelled, “Come on God. Fifty-five and single. It’s been twenty years. How much longer?”

I waited for an answer but heard nothing . I bit my bottom lip and then lowered my head in defeat, “Well, if you’re not gonna bring me the husband, can you at least restore my joy because I gotta admit THIS HURTS ?”

I turned off the light and went to bed.

The next day, as I took in the smell of my lemon and oranges trees in my backyard, I lowered my eyes, shook my head, and thought why do you yell at God, when he has blessed you so much ? Get over yourself Lisa !

I picked a lemon and then a basketful.

As I sat the basket down on my kitchen table, I thought of the old saying, “ If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”

I decided to make some lemonade. With a quick Evite, a guest list, a “lemon-squeezy, easy-peasy” birthday celebration on the calendar, I felt like a little girl with pigtails, skipping through the rest of my day.

As the lemon-themed birthday party drew closer, I thought more and more about the whole, lemon to lemonade theme in my life.

For those of you who don’t know my story here’s the quick sour lemon recap: twenty years ago, I went through a divorce, months later my ex became a paraplegic from a snowmobile accident, his second wife sued me for their accident, I was a broke single mom with no child support, our home with burglarized, and years later I suffered with Lyme disease.

Who would think that would be the easy part of my story? The last several years, in ways I am not ready yet to disclose, life handed me a brand new fresh bag of lemons.

Yes! More sour ! I have to admit I am so grateful for this extra helping of sour lemons. Why? Because through it, God drew me closer to him, rid me of my self-reliance, humbled me , and lowered my pride. Yes, I have retired my sassy pants!

I don’t move until God tells me to move. But when God moves, HE REALLY MOVES!

Remember, I wrote that I yelled at God to restore my joy? Boy! Oh boy ! Did he ever !!

Not only , did I have a fabulous birthday party surrounded by friends who love me…

but received a email from the bakery uptown that I won the princess cake.

God is good ! God is great! He is at work all the time, even through our hard seasons of sour lemons.

Life may be sour but I know this to be true, God has blessed me with good friends and no sugar is needed. Friends make life sweet.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For you know, the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.