You’ve heard from this lemon tree in the past. It is still teaching. So here we go. I’ve been dealing with this lemon tree for now near 10 years. I remember being so excited when I found this plant. I declared…I shall have lemons! So I planted my little lemon tree and waited for my lemons to appear. Year after year it grew taller and taller. It bloomed, but bared no lemons. About a year ago, I’d had it with this lemon tree! I wrote it off and declared that it was simply a tall, beautiful tree that bared no fruit and was therefore of no use. Don’t be like the lemon tree I declared! My intent was to cut it down and pull it up. But then a few months later, I happened to be out in the garden and noticed that the lemon tree had grown beyond the fence and almost to my neighbors rooftop. Look up said the lemon tree! I looked up and low and behold, there was fruit up there! But it was green. I didn’t know if they were limes or lemons. So I waited some more to see what the end would be. Limes or lemons?? After a few more months of waiting, with nothing changing, I figured, well, they must be limes. So we pulled a few only to learn that these were not limes and we’d pulled them too soon. Too soon said the lemon tree! By now, I am really frustrated with this darn lemon tree. Where are my lemons!? I demand lemons! All summer, I run out to the lemon tree and there they are at the top….still green. Still no lemons. Be patient said the lemon tree! By now, I’d given up. I’d determined that there will be no lemons after all. I’m done. No more looking up, no more waiting….done! Winter rolls around and the air is cold. Frost is on the ground and it’s time to clean out the garden and put it to rest for the winter. I’m no longer even thinking about the lemon tree. I come in from work one evening and there on the counter are lemons! Yellow lemons! Well what do you know!?!? Lemons!
Lessons from the Lemon Tree:
BE PATIENT. “Don’t be like the lemon tree!” I declared. When I looked up why lemon trees don’t bloom, this is what I read, “Many varieties of fruit trees have to mature completely before they begin to fruit. That means that in many cases, getting lemon trees to bloom requires nothing but the patience to nurture them until they’re three or four years old.” Well first of all, I did nothing to nurture my lemon tree. I didn’t water it. I didn’t fertilize it. I didn’t bring it in from the cold. I just left it out there on it’s own and expected it to give me lemons. I got what I put into it…nothing! We are so quick to give up on people and/or situations in our life. Things may look great on the outside, but we don’t know what people are dealing with on the inside. Be patient. Be compassionate. Lean in and invest in the person or situation.
LOOK UP. Often times in my struggle I have been frustrated, I’ve doubted and I’ve asked “Where is God and why is this happening? Where are His miracles?”. But when I look up, I am reminded that His miracles are all around me. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; Great is His faithfulness”. Look up says the lemon tree!
APPRECIATE THE LEMONS. I was so excited to see those lemons. I don’t know yet what they taste like. They could be bitter. They could be sweet. They could just be lemony. But I appreciate that I finally got my lemons! Here’s what my dear friend Carmen Caccavale has to say about finally getting the lemons. “Imagine if we were as welcoming of the lemons the Lord provides in our lives as you are of these! I’m thinking about how deliberate our God is, even the lemons are part of his perfect plan!”. Now that gave me pause!! I’ve had some lemons in my life that I didn’t like and wanted to throw back. But oftentimes when I look back on those lemon situations, I can see the hand of God and how He was moving in my life, making me stronger, preparing me, building me. So if when I cut into these lemons from my lemon tree and they are bitter, I will not throw them out. I will use the bitter to make something good. I have waited long for these lemons. I shall appreciate them and remember.
Thank you lemon tree for these lessons. See ya next year!
#IAmMyFathersGarden