Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

My father used to say, "If I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all." That sums up my 2024 perfectly. My sweet 19-year-old Havanese, Nora, passed away in March. In August my husband underwent emergency triple bypass surgery. Last week we learned the home we bought in TN to renovate needed tearing down. It seemed like life had given me so many lemons that, if tested, my blood would contain 99% lemonade.

But that’s the unfortunate thing about life: It doesn’t stop moving. Life is not simple and obvious. Sometimes it’s just bad, complicated, and murky, and we have no idea what to do.

At that point, we need to sit with the bad. But sitting with the suck is not the same as wallowing in the suck. Sitting with the suck means life gave you some lemons, and you decided you’re just going to be with the lemons.

You might yell at them and get mad at all the lemons, but the anger, frustration, sadness, righteous indignation, or despair you feel about the lemons won’t be constant. It will ebb and flow and change. You’ll know this because you’re sitting with the lemons.

And it’s okay if you get angry and scream, “I don't want your dang lemons,” and like any good Karen, demand to see Life's manager.

But at the end of the day, there is only one thing you can do, and that is to move forward.

There will be peaks and valleys and long, endless stretches of sunshine to travel down on the road ahead. And any dirt that is sticking to your shoes will fall off along the way. It might take just a few minutes of sitting with the lemons. It might even take a few months (lemons have a really long shelf life). But it’s not the lemon’s fault. You’re just going to stay with your hurt and your pain because the only way out is through.

And then one day you might think, “I suppose I could try to make lemonade…”

Or perhaps you’ll think, “I do need just a little bit of lemon zest for this dinner recipe…”

Or you might just say, “This kitchen stinks — I’m just going to grind up the lemons in the garbage disposal…”

Life can sometimes be unbelievably beautiful, with everything coming together to create a moment of pure, unadulterated bliss. Life can also be pretty awful at times, with situations being incredibly unfair and heartbreaking. The difference between someone who’s a victim and someone who’s a survivor is the ability to take the crappiest moments in life and turn them into fertilizer.

When we can use these painful times as fuel for our personal growth, we can move through any type of difficulty with grace and resilience.

Apart from making me smile at the thought of dodging lemons being lobbed in my direction, for me, it represents, through taking something sour and making it sweetly fizz and bubble, the very essence of gratitude and an effervescent joy and love of life. But while it is true that life will give us lemons, it is not true that we have to keep possession of it. There are some things given to us to possess, then there are others things given to us to transfer. God does not want us to merely take possession of lemons but wants us to do something with them.

Life is full of unexpected challenges and disappointments. Sometimes, it feels like we are being bombarded with lemons, leaving us feeling sour and defeated. But what if I told you that instead of just accepting these lemons, you could throw them back at life with a vengeance? That’s right, it’s time to embrace the power of throwing those sour fruits right back where they came from!

Bad things do happen. And we have a choice in how we respond to them. We have a choice whether to get sucked into this black hole of judging, blaming, and shaming or whether to be a beacon, shining a light on all the good things that are happening in the world too.

We live in a big beautiful world. It’s not a world without problems, strife, and uncertainty. Bad things can happen, and they do happen. But it’s important not to let the problems, strife, and uncertainty and these bad things overlook the fact that life, in general, is getting better

My father also used to say, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Strong people take strong actions. What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters to what lies within us. Sometimes we just need someone to tell us that we already have the courage and ability we need to get through a difficult situation.

When Life gives you lemons, keep your hope alive. God is doing something behind the scenes even when you can’t see It. So, I’ve decided when life hands me lemons, I’m not going to waste them on lemonade. I’m going to put on a cute little apron, open my Southern Living cookbook, make a beautiful meringue, and pie that Mother Pucker right in the face.