Lemonade Stands

I have made a vow to never drive by a lemonade stand without stopping and buying a glass. I have also made a vow to always throw a little extra something something to make up for everyone who does drive by without stopping. No matter how sweet, how sour, how expensive or how non-icy it may be, all that matters is I brought joy into a sweet child's heart and put a little extra spending money in their pocket.

Honestly, I have had a rough week. Am I aloud to say that when it's only Tuesday? Well, I am. It's been tough and my heart is weighing heavy. Although right now I would love nothing more than to lay on the couch and watch Cold Case or Without a Trace I have an ever growing list of things to do, including an entire course of Government. So to the point. On my way home from work today I stopped by Starbucks to get my energy for the rest of the night. After receiving my drink I headed home, exhausted from playing with kids all day (sweet kids, don't get it wrong...I LOVE my job). As I rounded the corner of my neighborhood I saw two girls waving their hands like crazy with a poster board tapped to a table reading, "Lemonade 75 Cents and Popsicles 75 Cents". Although I didn't need another drink and I was perfectly happy with my coffee I turned on my blinker and pulled into the middle school they were outside of. In a split second smiles crossed their faces, they turned towards each other with that anxious look of not knowing what to do while I got out of my car. Then a wave of panic came across me as I wasn't sure if I had any cash...don't worry I did. $1.78 I gave them for a cup of lemonade. Sweet sweet girls these were, carefully pouring the drink and scooping the ice and showing me how they were organizing their money. They talked about going into 5th grade and being the oldest girls. As I was standing there I kept watching cars out of the corner of my eyes pass them by. Is it that hard to take 2 minutes of your time to buy a cup?

I view this situation like our relationship with God. God is the girls selling the lemonade. He is standing on the corner waving His arms like crazy trying to get our attention for just 2 minutes. We are the cars...passing by like we don't have time. All He wants us to do is pull over from our calendar and crazy schedules and spend some time with Him. He will then send us on our way until He flags us down again.

I believe we can also view this from the other way around. We are the lemonade sellers seeking out attention from ANYONE or ANYTHING. We wave frantically trying to call out for help as we watch all the so called "help" drive by. The earthly things we try and fix our struggles with don't hang around for life. They drive by and we then move on to the next "car" hoping that it will help us with our sins. God is the faithful buyer of lemonade, stopping every time and remaining always. He is the car that pulls over, drops everything and helps. He will never drive by and watch you wave your hands in a panic hoping for dear life for someone to pull over. He will pull over.

So however you wish to look at it. Our relationship is like a lemonade stand with God. He will pull over when you are in need and we need to pull over when He is trying to get our attention. Lets pay attention to the signs and lemonade stands in our day to day lives, they tend to pop up in the most convenient times but we can't drive by.