When Life is a Lemon Shake-up

With a recipe and how you can get Sidelines gifts!

Hello from the summertime! (Yes, I did sing that like Adele.)

As the sun shines so generously upon us, I want to share one of my favorite cool treats. But really quick, I’ve got some good “Sidelines” news:

We can preorder “Stories From the Sidelines” on Amazon!

AND I have presents for you! I want to send you a few goodies after you preorder, so just tell me where to mail them (click here). I’m sending stickers and bookmarks, as well as a signed bookplate for each book!

There are also some extra bonuses for multiple orders. The details are here.

Ok, let’s talk lemon shake-ups.

Have you ever had one at a county fair? Lemons, ice, and a ridiculous amount of sugar are shaken together to become the most refreshing, delicious summer treat. It may sound like ordinary lemonade, but it’s somehow magical from the first sip to the sad moment when the straw makes that slurping noise and you realize that all you have left is pulpy ice.

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, I found a simple recipe for a lemon shake-up in a jar! I’m not being dramatic to say that it has transformed my summers. In the spirit of not being annoying by making you scroll past a big long story for a recipe, here it is:

Mash together ¼ cup of sugar and a lemon (cleaned and quartered) in a quart jar (the handle of a wooden spoon works well). Fill the jar with ice cubes but leave some space at the top. Fill the jar with water, leaving about an inch so there’s room for shaking. Put the lid on and make sure it’s secure. Then shake vigorously (but don’t drop the glass jar!) for 45-90 seconds! Remove the lid, add a straw, and taste the joy.

(I didn’t invent this, but I can’t find the source for credit.)

Now here comes the part where life gives us lemons.

When they say “make lemonade” out of these life lemons, it sounds as peaceful as rocking on a front porch in the country after gently stirring a pitcher of lemon juice and sugar water. But often, that’s not how it goes.

Maybe you have lemons like mine. Juggling multiple jobs is a little overwhelming and, my goodness, this apartment has become mild chaos thanks to limited cleaning time and failed attempts at completing projects. Add managing mental health and it’s pretty lemon-y around here.

But there’s also sugar. The kids at church are a joy, and recently we made giant bubbles, tiny bows and arrows, and a medium-sized graham cracker candy model of Solomon’s temple. My plants are mostly thriving as I’m learning how to keep them alive. And I’m grateful to spend time with some of my incredible loved ones in the midst of the hustle.

Throw in ice cubes of daily challenges with unexpected events, and then here comes the shaking. It all gets jostled together, mixing as lemons collide with ice while sugar whirls around to tame the sourness. It’s a complicated blend.

But suddenly the shaking pauses. And the lemon shake-up actually tastes amazing if the ingredients were balanced well. We get a few moments of rest and delight.

That is, until we finish the jar. Then the process begins all over again.

This isn’t a new metaphor, and we’re familiar with what Ecclesiastes 3 says about our lives. There’s a time for everything: birth and death, tear down and build, mourning and dancing, all of it. But something else can transform our lemon shake-up.

I like to add strawberries.

Just like the sweet berries add more flavor, our time with God transforms our shaken-up lives. We become more aware of His comforting presence, reassuring grace, and immense love. Of course, the Lord is always with us, but we frequently miss seeing Him because we aren’t looking in His direction. Intentionally including Christ can make our shake-ups incredible.

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” – Ecclesiastes 3:11

We will still taste the sour moments and the sweet will still come. Being shaken is difficult and can be painful, but we can trust our good Heavenly Father to be there through it all. He will make everything beautiful at the right time. And sometimes it takes an actual delicious drink from an icy jar to help us remember that.