Today was a bit of a hard treatment day on one of my kiddo's. I came home and cleaned (did the normal daily vacuuming because I have a HUGE hairy dog that I feel too bad to keep outside when the temperatures dip...even though he is pretty much an arctic dog) and cleaned the kitchen mayhem we left in our flurry to get out the door to IV's today. I came across a few sad looking lemons and limes that were neglected after coming home from costco. It's hard for me to go through a whole bag in time. So, I thought I would share what I sometimes do when my lemons are almost bad....and my day was a little bad....and I need some tangible happy in my house.
I found a recipe for this years ago that I think was a knock-off Williams & Sonoma scent. I don't remember all the ingredients, so I might have tweaked it by memory after all this time, but I still love making it and I thought I would share it. It's super easy, it will smell like glory and you might even have all the ingredients on hand.
I don't always have limes on hand, so sometimes I use only lemons, only limes or even oranges are wonderful. For this medium size pot, I cut up two limes and two lemons. IT's easy, and already it looks happy. Something about the colors and the smell is just FRESH! Like a new beginning. (Sometimes we need to hit the re-set button in our day. But I am still looking for that "easy button" that Staples has mocked me with.)
I put these into the pot and filled it 3/4 of the way with water.
Then you add in more fun. Grab a small bunch of cloves, two cinnamon sticks (I broke each stick in half), three to four bay leaves and throw them in with the citrus. It will start to look like a seriously yummy brine...brings you right back to Thanksgiving! Be creative and add whatever you have on hand. I have used fresh snipped rosemary springs, a handful of dried lavender buds, or even a few drops of essential oil. But this is the basic version and it's amazing as-is.
Place the saucepan on the stove and bring it to a simmer. It will start to smell so cozy as the spices heat up. As the day wears on be sure to watch it on your stove. I have added water to it several times through out the day and it still is full of scent. You will know when it's all done and you can't add any more water because the cinnamon sticks will be all swelled up and the citrus will look how you feel at the end of the day with Lyme. (It's a great visual aid that needs no words.)
On that note (smile) sometimes I can feel a bit like that lemon all shriveled up. I look around and wonder if we will ever be out of this season, I see other peoples seasons that I would rather be in and I fail to see how this broken journey could be useful for anything but being a dark blip on the story line of life. I know the Truth- it's written on my heart. The Lord will never leave us or forsake us. I know my Savior, and I know He lives. But I can't help but think that living those truths- when I don't feel like it, when prayer doesn't get answered, when I just want to sit and be sour- is a bit like picking up that shriveled lemon and seeing use in it. The Lord sees use in me- in each of my children and my husband that I love so dearly who are on this journey with me. He sees beauty because of what HE can make out of all that is old...something NEW. But I have to be willing. I have to let him peer into the dark corners of my heart and offer to Him all that I am ashamed of, all that I am afraid of and all that I cannot fix on my own. I have to trust that my God is bigger than the enemy and that He has a master plan that I can't comprehend. As Ann Voskamp might say, (her newest book is really good)...I have to be willing to be split apart like that lemon- broken, but not forsaken.
I don't know why it has shocked me so much that life is just...hard. Jesus was talking about his Crucifixion when he said in John 12:24, "Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." This is the concept of sowing...making something new. That which was once beautiful, blossomed and then died..leaving behind a seed. That which has been all used up and looks dead, will be buried and spring forth fruit again.
I was just talking with my pastors wife last night about the book, The Broken Way, about life, and about a quote I heard in a sermon years ago that stuck with me.
"YOU NEVER REAP IN THE SAME SEASON THAT YOU SOW."
If you are in a season of hardship, of pain...of sowing- do so faithfully as unto Christ. Some times on the hard days (parenting anyone?!) it's good to remember that. Sowing seed is hard work. It takes dedication to sow seed in our children, in our hearts and continue to persevere in whatever you are striving for, even when you see NO VISIBLE PROOF THAT IT WILL BEAR FRUIT. Those times when you are a used up lemon, sitting on the shelf of life...trust. That is what I am working on doing this week. (And I will be making the recipe a few more times this week, using up all my lemons and limes!)
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