Opinion : When life hands you a lemon orchard

Sometimes life doesn't go quite as you expected, sometimes you win the lottery and you can't imagine it being any better.

But there are times it doesn't.

The saying, "If life hands you a lemon, make lemonade" has been rolling around in my thoughts. Except I was thinking more along the lines that if life hand you a lemon orchard, just go into business!

Life isn't perfect, if it were what fun would that be, really? It would be right down boring! However, the boring times are not a bad thing.

But when life hands you that orchard, whatever you do, DON'T start drinking that lemon juice without adding a little sweetness to it.

I've seen what a lemon orchard can do to a life. I've also seen what sweetness does.

Now in case, you see someone with a lemon orchard in their backyard, and they might look like they've been sucking on those lemons, offer them a bit of sweetness.

A kind word.

A hug.

A hand.

A hand up if you can.

Meet a need if you can.

And say a prayer or two for them.

If you're fortunate like I have been, I've had a lot of people come to the lemon orchard and start collecting lemons and making the best lemonade.

Usually, the time together is spent with the bushels of lemons then taking those sour things and adding the sweetness of a kind word, a bit of encouragement and a lot of laughter. Of course, there's always a bit of head shaking, but when that happens, it followed with a glass of the best lemonade.

So, if you see someone lost in their lemon orchard, bail them out, lend them a hand, carry some of those lemons and help them go into business in their lemonade stand, you'll be glad you did.