Sunday, August 22, 2010

Lemons

"The story of Joseph, the son of Jacob who was called Israel, is a vivid representation of the great truth that “all things work together for good to [those] who” love God. (See Rom. 8:28.) Joseph always seemed to do the right thing; but still, more importantly, he did it for the right reason. And how very, very significant that is! Joseph was sold by his own brothers as a slave and was purchased by Potiphar, a captain of the guard of Pharaoh. But even as an indentured servant, Joseph turned every experience and all circumstances, no matter how trying, into something good.

This ability to turn everything into something good appears to be a godly characteristic. Our Heavenly Father always seems able to do this. Everything, no matter how dire, becomes a victory to the Lord. Joseph, although a slave and wholly undeserving of this fate, nevertheless remained faithful to the Lord and continued to live the commandments and made something very good of his degrading circumstances. People like this cannot be defeated, because they will not give up. They have the correct, positive attitude, and Dale Carnegie’s expression seems to apply: If you feel you have a lemon, you can either complain about how sour it is, or you can make a lemonade. It is all up to you."

Hartman Rector, Jr. "Live Above the Law to be Free." Ensign, 1973

Have you ever Googled the word lemon and looked at the pictures? Here are a few:







Delicious right? There were so many more. So when life gives you lemons, make something wonderful! It doesn't have to be lemonade. It can be whatever you want it to be! Everyone makes different things out of the experiences life hands them.  I am so glad.  All my life experiences combined with another person's makes it so we can share a full meal of experiences together. Awesome.

Now I want something to eat! Looking at all this good food has made me hungry... for lemons!

3 comments:

Michelle said...

Beautiful, Amanda. It's true! I love how you applied it to the variety of possibilities with lemons. It will be neat to see what blessings come in your life because of the current lemons.

llamitanan said...

Loved your post, Amanda! I'm glad you and Mark are a good pair to enjoy your "adventures" together whether they be lemons or not. We pray for you often and love you LOTS!

Emily said...

You are great. Please post more about how things are going... especially the job. Also, I like to hear about how the battle of the bugs is going, since that could be my lot one day soon.