Lessons from a Lemonade Stand

As a minister's kid, I grew up in the church where I often heard stories of missionaries traveling to far away lands helping the poor.  I remember sitting in a Sunday School room looking at pictures of children my age who lived in Africa.  Their clothes were worn, their faces dirty and their stories were the same - they had no clean water.  As a child I was baffled by this.  Why couldn't the grown ups figure out a way to get water to these children?

Many years later, children in Africa, specifically South Sudan, are still without clean water.  The difference is, now I am the grown up and I am responsible to do something to help.  As a follower of Jesus, I cannot pretend to live in ignorance of those who are hurting, no matter how many miles away they may be.  Jesus taught us to care for the sick and hurting...and he didn't put geographical boundaries around it.

The question was where to start in my efforts to change the world.  The answer was Sister Effect.  Recently, two of my friends established an organization to make a difference in the lives of those living in South Sudan.  They came up with the name Sister Effect (http://www.sistereffect.org/).  The idea being that women and girls will use whatever gifts they have (writing, baking, music, anything) to raise awareness and funds which will result in life-giving change for those in the Sudan.

As a mother of two daughters, I wanted my 'sisters' to learn early that they can make a difference in someone else's life - even someone they have never met.  So, I asked the girls what talents or abilities they have that they could use to help girls in South Sudan.  The result was a bake sale/lemonade stand benefitting Sister Effect.

My own sister and I were holding a garage sale and decided it was the perfect opportunity to help the girls get started.  The girls did all the work.  Mary Catherine baked and baked.  Ellie mixed lemonade.  They made signs and set up their stand.  For two days that sat in the sweltering Houston heat selling their wares.

The result?  They raised a whole $20.  I have to be honest and say that at first I was really disappointed in the small amount of money.  But then I realized I was being short sighted.  There is a much greater effect taking place.  Yes, the money is important.  But more important are the lessons it taught my girls. 

They learned:

• They have special abilities, given by God, that they can use to bless others.
• There is great joy in doing something completely selfless.
• Working together can bring greater results than working alone.
• You don't have to be a grown up to make a difference.

That's a lot of lessons learned just from one little lemonade stand!  I learned something too.  You don't have to have millions of dollars to change the world.  You don't have to move to Africa to help the people that live there.  Sometimes, the best thing you can do is raise awareness in your own little circle of influence - in this case it was influencing my girls.

I have a feeling this won't be their last business venture.  They've caught the Sister Effect bug.  It's amazing what sister's can do together. 

It Could Have Been Worse

I think of myself as a "Pray-er".  I believe in prayer.  I don't always understand how or why God answers as He does but I've lived long enough to see God do amazing things when people pray.  While I pray daily and I've seen God answer many prayers, I am still floored when I see God work!

Yesterday, Chris took the kids to the pool while I stayed home to work on a talk I'm giving at church tomorrow night.  After working for an hour I got sleepy and decided to lay down for a nap.  Just as I was drifting off I had a sudden urge to pray for protection for my kids.  It seemed a little strange that I would feel that way as they are all excellent swimmers, Chris was with them, and they were at a pool with lifeguards.  Nevertheless, I prayed for their safety.

About thirty minutes later I was surprised to hear Chris pulling into the driveway since they had only been gone a short while.  Then I see my son, Jack get out of the car with a large butterfly bandage on his chin.  Apparently he had slipped while getting out of the pool and hit his chin quite hard on the edge.  Chris needed to take him to the emergency room where he ended up getting his chin glued!

You may think my prayer didn't "work" or it was too late.  To the contrary.  I know in my heart that the Lord had me pray for my kids at the exact moment the accident was about to happen and my obedience to pray prevented a much worse accident. 

Moms, we are our children's first line of defense against spiritual as well as physical danger.  Imagine yourself the general in a war.  As you hold your hands up your army has victory but the second you lower them they begin to lose.  This is exactly what happened in Exodus 17 when the Israelites were going to war.  When Moses, their leader, held is hands up the Israelite army advanced.  But, when his arms got tired, he lowered them and the army suffered setbacks.  Two friends had to come and hold Moses' arms up so the Israelites could gain the victory!

This is a physical picture of an equally real spiritual battle.  As we lift our prayers to God on behalf of our children, God will move them forward and give them victory in life.  If we grow weary from praying for them, our children are subject to defeat by forces of darkness that are at work all around us.  (For more on this, check out Ephesians 6).

I'm so grateful that my loving Heavenly Father alerted me to a need for my children.  I am thankful that I recognized it and 'raised my hands'.  I'm also grateful that Jack only busted his chin and scraped up his side.  You moms out there know just as well as I do... it could have been much worse.

Hope in Grief

Yesterday I had the opportunity to spend time with a friend whose family has been rocked by the sudden death of a loved one.  She shared with me how the brother of the deceased is struggling to cope.  He holds his emotions together only to crater under the strain of grief.  My heart breaks as I hear of this family's pain and I feel helpless, wanting more than anything to take it away.

Where can we go when death is standing over us like a dark shadow?  We must turn to Jesus.  He is our Comforter and Hope.  Jesus is well acquainted with grief.  He stood at the tomb of his good friend, Lazarus.  He listened to the cries of Lazarus' sisters, "Jesus, if you had been here, this wouldn't have happened."  Have you ever said that to Jesus? 

What was Jesus' response to this grieving family?  The shortest verse in all of scripture - John 11:35, "Jesus wept."  Jesus loved this family and cried with them.  Was Jesus crying because it was a hopeless situation?  No.  Was he crying because he was helpless to do anything about it?  No.  He cried because death was never in God's plan.  When God created Adam and Eve in the Garden, the world was perfect.  Death didn't exist until man sinned.  It broke God's heart then and it breaks His heart now.

Jesus wept because he loves his people so much.  He hates to see us suffer.  When we cry, he cries.  Shortly after crying with his friends, he went on to raise Lazarus from the dead.  Wow, now that's a pretty good response to grief!  If only Jesus would come and raise all of our loved ones from the dead.  Why doesn't he?

He raised Lazarus from the dead to show that only HE (Jesus) has power over death.  Nothing and no one in all the world is stronger than death - except Jesus!  He gave his life that we could cheat death.  Jesus brings eternal life to those who trust in him. 

Friends, between you and me, when it's my time to go, I don't want to be brought back to this decrepit world.  I want Jesus to raise me up to heaven.  I want to be alive with him for all of eternity in a world without sin. 

I'm happy for Lazarus' sisters that they got to see Lazarus again this side of heaven.  But the point of the story does not end with a resurrection barbeque in Lazarus' backyard.  The real party happens when Jesus welcomes us home to heaven.  He brings life eternal to all of us who will call upon his name. 

Are you grieving today?  Know that Jesus grieves with you.  Are you angry at death?  Jesus is too.  Do you feel helpless?  You are.  But Jesus isn't.  He has conquered death.  Friends, let Jesus comfort us as no one else can.  Let us turn to the only one who can do something about death.  Like Lazarus' sisters, let's call upon Jesus.