I returned to my wheelchair, and as I was taking off my prosthetic legs, a nurse's aide in white scrubs entered the room. "You've got some nice legs there," she said. "How do you like them?" There was no pity in her voice, just curiosity. I shrugged and decided to tell her the honest truth. "They're okay. They're just not like my legs used to be." I didn't want to be negative, but I couldn't be enthusiastic either. "Well, when God gives you lemons, then you've just got to make lemonade," she spouted with confidence. We chatted for a few more minutes, and then she hustled off to her duties. After she left, her words stuck with me. It was the simplest thing, yet it made sense. Is it possible to take all the heartache and challenges I've been through and let them work for the better? It gave me hope for change. It also made me think about something Ruth Ann had told me a year prior. "You're a strong willed person, Kristen. You can either let that work for you or against you," (p. 154, 155).
Making lemonade out of lemons isn't the easiest thing to do in life, but I've found it necessary. It's much easier to hold on to our dreams, or how we think things should have been, but that isn't going to change what happened yesterday or any other day in the past. I couldn't bring my legs back no matter how much I wished I could. It's important to remember that we only have today to work with. As the old saying goes, "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift." We might as well make the best of it!
Please, think about what it is that you have to be grateful for. Make a list. Ask yourself what God gave you to enjoy about your life today. And learn from the book of Job. The Bible shows us that Job was a good man, but he lost his family, his livestock, his wealth and his health. He questioned God, grumbled about his situation, and even wished he was dead, but he never gave up and he never lost his faith in God. He seemed to always know that God was still God, that he could always trust Him, and at the end of his life "the LORD restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before", (Job 42:10). I hope you know that God is always God and that He never changes. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever," (Heb. 13:8). He will never let you go, He will never give up on you, He will always love you, and He is right there with you.
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