lemons: lemonade or lemon bars?

The backyard is a large part of the reason we bought the house we are in - it has room for my kiddos to run around! Unfortunately, 2 trees were planted smack dab in the middle of it. One is a lemon tree of sorts and the other is an avocado. We have grand plans for where those trees currently reside and so they must come out. No biggie, until I stumbled across an irresistable lemon bar recipe. These bars are dangerous and must be distributed to friends and family shortly after they are made or they will be eaten by me and my husband within 2 days. A 9x13 pan of them - gone.So now, we are looking at losing that tree with in the next month as we proceed with the plans for the backyard and I find myself saddened by the thought of it being gone! Now mind you, I only like half the tree. One half has these delicious lemons (Meyer's, I believe) and the other half has these HUGE wrinkly lemon-like thingys that don't seem to be good for much. The branches for the huge wrinkly lemons have gigantic thorns. But I don't think we will be able to salvage just half the tree so, alas, I lose it all. However, I have every intention of planting a new lemon tree in a much better location on account of the absolute delicousness of these amazing lemon bars:

Today's gift of survival: The Best Lemon Bars (you can find the original recipe here). I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and was so pleased with them that I never looked for a different recipe. Plus this recipe has real butter in it. I like butter. A lot (yes, that is two words, my high school English teacher finally got that through to me).

Ingredients:

1 C butter, softened
1/2 C white sugar
2 C flour
4 eggs
1 1/2 C white sugar
1/4 C flour
2 lemons, juiced
powdered sugar for sprinkling

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 C flour, and 1/2 C sugar. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 pan.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 and 1/2 C sugar and 1/4 C flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust.
4. Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool. (I put them in the fridge for a bit). Sprinkle powdered sugar on top of the bars.

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I know this is just too easy of a follow up, but they say when life hands you lemons, make lemonade! I prefer to make lemon bars because the lemonade I like comes in a powdered form that I just mix with water and that's just fine with me.

But getting back to the point: It is easy to allow yourself to get frustrated, down in the dumps, grumpy and complainy (not a word, but you understand the meaning, I'm sure) when things don't go your way. But the phrase "giving thanks in all things" comes to mind. I know it's not fun to have someone tell you that the kids in Africa have it so much worse than you or that there are people which much worse diseases than the stomach flu that you are dealing with when you are in the midst of your own crisis and you should be grateful that you're not as bad off as them. And those perspectives are good to have. But I'm not sure that's what was meant by that phrase "giving thanks in all things."

I think that God is pushing us to look at the big picture. We are some fortunate folks, those of us who have been granted salvation (and by being "granted" I mean we asked and He gave). And if you are one who has accepted this incredible gift, our hearts should be FULL of gratitude ALL the time! Because some day, we aren't going to be on this earth, dealing with all the garbage that is thrown our way each day. No, the place we are headed is nothing like this old earth. And even in the midst of my hardest struggles, I have been able to smile simply knowing that this is not what God has planned for my future and I have something greater to look forward to.

(p.s. to this: Sometimes life here can really get you down. It's okay not to be happy in everything. It is a heart attitude that I am thinking of, one of gratitude despite the unhappiness of the situation. Of course, this is just my perspective...)

So, until that day, we will wade through it all, finding ways to survive the irritation of the neighbor's constantly barking dog, or that mess that appears in our child's wake in every single room, or the bird that left a gift in your hair, or the fender bender that happened in the parking lot, or... you fill in the blank. Who knows, maybe we can even find it within us to smile through it. I'm going to survive this rain that makes me grumpy by eating the best lemon bar with a great cup of coffee...


KC