Lemonade or Sour Puss?!

Psalm 34:19

"The righteous person faces many troubles,

but the Lord comes to the rescue each time."

I believed for a long time that I was born with bad luck! I believed it was a generational curse...my mom had bad luck, my grandma had bad luck and I'm certain my great grandmother and great great grandmother suffered the same curse! If something bad was going to happen...it was going to happen to me...from major issue like losing my biological father when I was only three months old, getting in a car accident that lead to one death and six injured, to having a daughter with a genetic terminal illness. To the silly things like having to get five stitches playing musical chairs to running straight into a tree while trying to read a book, or falling out of my bed while sleeping. I have heard it said that sometimes life hands you lemons...the questions is what are you going to do with them? You have two chooses...you can make lemonade or you can be a sour puss! For quite some time I decided to be a sour puss...now I chose to make lemonade!

I mentioned a few major life events above...let me explain one or two in further details. I lost my biological father at the age of three months. While growing up, I thought that God must have been mad at me for something I did and that's why He took my father. What I didn't realize in my adolescence was two things: First and most important was God is the greatest father a girl could want or need! Secondly, I am human, and I was young and I really wanted a father for several reasons, like to teach me to play a sport, to teach me to fix my car, or to walk me down the isle. I believed I was missing out on things because I didn't have a "Father"...to my dismay, the Lord brought a wonderful father into my life. He legally adopted me at the age of 18, and I can say with all my heart that he is the greatest gift I could have ever ask for. He loves the Lord with all his heart and chooses to teach us to love the Lord also. So what I thought was "bad luck" turned into something beautiful, I just had to have a little patience.

Romans 8:28

"And we know that God causes everything

to work together for the good of those

who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."

As most of you know, in January, 2008; my 18-month-old daughter, Emma was diagnosed with a genetic and terminal lung disease called Cystic Fibrosis. Cystic Fibrosis, also known as CF, is a condition that produces a sticky mucus in the lungs and other internal organs. Due to this sticky mucus, Emma gets sick very easy and struggles with breathing at times. She also requires breathing treatments to help her in this area and she is required to help multiple medications to help her feel "normal." By the age of four my daughter has been hospitalized seven times and has had four surgeries, along with tons of other invasive procedures.

When she was diagnosed I figured I had REALLY messed up this time, God is so angry with me...so I was angry with Him, and I thought..."See, how bad my luck is...now it's rubbing off on my children!!" I yelled at the Lord and begged and pleaded to know why He did this to me and what I did so bad to deserve this...after all my yelling, I sat quietly and I felt a warm and comforting feeling come over me (like a warm blanket when your cold), and I heard an ever still small voice say "Lisa, I didn't do this because I am mad or angry with you. I did this, because I TRUST you." From that moment forward, I have walked in the fact that the God of the Universe, TRUST me!!! What an amazing opportunity to attempt to make Him proud. Have I failed, OF COURSE! Will I fail, OF COURSE!! But with God's grace and trust, I will walk side by side with my daughter and fight CF with all I have in me.

James 1:2-4

"Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way,

consider it an opportunity for great joy.

For you know that when your faith is tested,

your endurance has a chance to grow.

So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed,

you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing."

I recently had the opportunity to listen to Lori Salierno, she asked the question: "What is maturity?" Some would say gray hair, others would say someone who has experiences a lot, some would even say wisdom makes you wise. But what this amazing woman shared was this:
Maturity isn't age, appearance, academics and achievements. God says that mature is determined by our attitude!! A mature person is positive under pressure, sensitive to others, has mastered their mouth, is a peacemaker not a troublemaker and a mature person is prayerful!

So I ask you today, are you a "mature" person, one who is being positive under pressure, sensitive to others, mastering your mouth, being a peacemaker not a trouble maker and being prayerful? Or are you still in diapers walking around whining when things don't go your way, complaining about your "bad" luck, or blaming others for your problems...being a SOUR PUSS! This isn't an easy thought process and honestly I struggle with it daily, but I am learning as I seek to be a woman after God's own heart, that I can look to God's word to get me through each step.