Making Lemonade Out of Lemons

By Meghan Ryan Asbury

Life has given us some lemons lately.

S ome of them are related to moving cities, others related to life with an infant. And some come from simply being human and struggling to live in a broken world.

I’ve tasted the sourness of those lemons: middle-of-the-night crash-outs from not sleeping, teary car rides grieving unmet expectations, frustrated conversations with my husband about the unfairness of life.

But I know I have some autonomy to change my perspective even if I can’t change my circumstances. They say, “When life hands you lemons, make lemonade,” and I’m here to put that to practice.

For the past several weeks, I’ve taken steps to change my attitude about these lemons. So I dubbed this season “My Lemonade Season.”

What does that mean?

I think it’s tempting to spend time focusing on things we do not have, and in the process we miss what we do have. More than that, I think we miss what the “lemons” we’ve got are actually offering: ingredients to make something beautiful out of the life God has given us. 

We may not have all the things we wanted or hoped for right now, but we’re fighting to find things around every corner to love and appreciate about this season. Things that wouldn’t exist if we had all the things we wanted and hoped for at this moment.

For example: My husband, daughter, and I are temporarily living with my parents. The “temporary” part is taking longer than we expected as we try to sell our house and look for a new one. While we long for our own space to feel more settled, there are some perks to our current setup. We get to be walking distance to the beach and our favorite coffee shop, which is not something we’ll have once we get our own house. We’re getting to experience multi-generational living and all the fun (and tensions) that come along with it. We’re getting to live really simply with all our stuff in storage and enjoy what each day has to offer us without getting bogged down by house chores and maintaining things. (And we’re also not sleeping, thanks to our six-month-old waking up constantly. I don’t have a “lemonade” for that yet, but I believe it’ll come!)

We don’t know when these things will change, but for the first time in a long time, I’m not worried about it. Because perspective really does change things. I’m not talking about gaslighting ourselves into Pollyanna-like optimism—I’m talking about acknowledging what’s hard, unexpected, and disappointing but not staying there. Instead, we choose to trust that God has good for us here still. It doesn’t change the facts of life, and I say often, it doesn’t always change my feelings. But it does increase my faith—and it helps me find joy in the here and now, which is where life happens.

The funny thing I forget about “lemons” is they are fruit, too. They are evidence of life, growth, and harvest. We may not always like the taste. We may wish for berries, peaches, or something a little sweeter. But all we have to do is mix in some water and sugar-like gratitude and find ways to enjoy and enhance our days. And boom, we’ve got something better than we started with. Those other fruits have their seasons, and we’ll get to enjoy those when they come.

To do that, I’m documenting the beauty of each day with photos on my phone and scribbled lists of what I’m thankful for in a notebook. I’m telling my husband and parents what has been good, and asking them to share the same with me.

So I hope you can find ways to take what’s in front of you and ask God what He wants to make out of it. Some days it’ll be easier than others. My prayer is we all find more beauty, more joy, and more abundant life within whatever season we find ourselves.

— V —

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Meghan Ryan Asbury is an author and speaker who is passionate about helping people discover and live out their God-given callings. She has worked in international ministries as well as with Proverbs 31 Ministries. When she’s not surrounded by friends, you can usually find her reading a book or enjoying the great outdoors. A 30-A beach girl, born and raised, she and her husband now reside in Nashville. Her first book, You Are Not Behind: Building a Life You Love Without Having Everything You Want, is available wherever books are sold. You can connect with her on Instagram @meghanryanasbury and at AlwaysMeghan.com.