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When Life Hands You Lemons . . .

Grab

Folding table

Poster board and markers

Instant lemonade mix or frozen concentrated lemonade

Disposable cups

Pitchers

Small paper lunch sacks

Microwave popcorn

Cooler with ice

Box or bag of coins to make change

Go

Is there anything better on a hot day than a lemonade stand? Be a team as you prepare one or two pitchers of lemonade, either from an instant mix or frozen concentrate. These two types also taste great when combined. Place pitchers in the refrigerator to cool. Pop some microwave popcorn and when it has cooled, fill paper sacks with the popcorn.

Meanwhile, create a sign for your lemonade stand. Decide on a price per cup of lemonade and bag of popcorn. Write on your sign with big, bold lettering to draw the attention of thirsty passersby. Encourage your daughter to add her own artwork to jazz up the sign.

Set up a folding table outside and attach your sign to the front. Be creative and think of ways to add interest to your table. Balloons? A tablecloth? A huge stuffed animal?

Bring out a cooler of ice, cups, your bag of coins, your pitchers of lemonade, and the bags of popcorn. Place one of the pitchers on the table and one in the cooler to stay cold. Let the sales begin!

Stick together outside, both for safety and to enjoy the experience as a team. Let your daughter do as much of the lemonade pouring and counting of change as possible. If sales are slow, enjoy some of the popcorn and lemonade yourselves!

When finished for the day, work together to clean up and put your supplies away. Count the money and see how much you earned from your business. Decide how you will use the earnings: half to give away and half to save for fun another day?

Dad’s goal: to earn enough money to live the same life as my wife and kids.

Seen on a dad’s T-shirt

Grow

Was it fun to make snacks and sell them in your neighborhood? Were you happy with how much you were able to earn? You worked hard to prepare your stand and keep it going outside. It’s always great when hard work pays off.

You probably would have had some unhappy customers if you had sold either sugar water or lemon juice, though. It’s the combination of sweet and sour that makes lemonade so delicious. That’s a little bit like life—sometimes things are “sweet” and going smoothly, but other times are “sour” with stress and difficulty. The good and the bad combined teach us a lot about God and grow our faith. James 1:2–4 reminds us:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

I know I don’t want to be lacking anything good that God has for me. Bring on the lemons!

Dear Lord,

Thank you for our fun time making a lemonade stand today. And thank you for sometimes allowing hard things to happen to us. We know you will use every trial to teach us and make us more like Jesus. Help us to hold tight to your promise in Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Thank you for making our “lemons” into lemonade—we love you! Amen.