“I have spread my dreams under your feet.
Tread softly
because you tread on my dreams.”
~ W.B. Yeats

Do you remember the first time you made lemonade?

When I was a kid, it never took more than a few minutes.   Before commercials finished flashing on the TV, I was able to whip myself up pink lemonade and hop back in time for Bugs Bunny’s last cartoon.

I’d run to the fridge, open up the freezer and grab myself a can of concentrate lemonade, courtesy of Minute Maid.  It took practice to get that tin cover off. I’d pop the sludge of sticky, gooey yellow out of the cardboard tube, into the Rubbermaid container.

I’d quickly fill it up with some tap water and shake it up.

Voila. Instant lemonade.

Homemade Lemonade

Luckily, my four year old son, TJ, seems to have a happier lot in life.  His daddy took out a Sunday afternoon to show him how it’s really done.

I swear, I didn’t know it could be so much work.

I was busy upstairs, surrounded by piles of paper, filing like a mad woman, to clear a chaotic desk.   After what seemed like an eternity of sorting, TJ shoots up the stairs, like a bull on a rampage.

“Mommee!  We did it — we made lemonade!  Come have some!”  His eyes were wild and bright, cheeks flushed from the excitement and the climb.

“Alright,” I holler. “I’ll be there in a minute!”

As TJ led the way downstairs, he started to recount the entire process, like a scientist discovering the meticulous set of steps to split the atom.

“The first thing you have to do is wash the lemons… Then, you cut the lemons in half and squeeze them with the juicer-thing.  Then, you pour the sugar into the pitcher, pour the hot water into it… Put a whole bunch of ice and water — STIR IT UP AND IT’S DONE!”

TJ demonstrates the action in a fury of tornado-grade worthy arms and hands flailing in mid-air, as he lands his descent and skedaddles into the kitchen.

“Cheers!”  We clink our glasses.  I’m quite impressed.

The End Comes Faster

After downing some sweet and tart TJ homemade lemonade, I asked the little drink barista what he thought of making lemonade.

“I liked it, but it sure took a looooong time!”

“Really?” I asked, half-listening.

“Yeah,” TJ sighed.  “You have to be very patient.  You have to do a lot of stuff before you can make the lemonade and finally drink it.”

“How were you able to be so patient, then?” I was all ears.

“Well… I was patient because I knew the end would come faster if I just did what Daddy told me to do. ”  TJ answered.

I thought for a moment, The kid’s like Yoda.

What My Heavenly Daddy Says

Before this day, I thought my lemonade-in-a-can was pretty terrific.  After all, it was pretty darn good enough for watching Looney Tunes.

As I listened to TJ-Yoda tell it, I understood that the sweet-tart taste that comes from hand-squeezed lemons was incomparably better.  It isn’t just the flavor, but the father who walked TJ step by step, talking him through it.

I realized the patience I need to see my dreams through comes from the same place — following what my Heavenly Daddy tells me to do.

I’m so totally used to working to pop dreams out of the can of self-effort.  I try to force my dreams, getting short and frustrated, artificially trying to make things happen.  It doesn’t taste so good.

It’s hard to be patient, when I don’t know how long a dream will take.  But, the end will come faster, if I focus on what God’s put in front of me, trusting in what my Heavenly Daddy can do.

It’ll be sweet as sunshine.  TJ’s sure of that.

“I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.” ~ God (Acts 2:17)

What are you dreaming of today?
How do you handle the wait — and mix in patience?

GIVEAWAY ALERT – THURS 2/11/10
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Bros, a gift for your gals!
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