{"id":1901,"date":"2011-11-05T01:00:50","date_gmt":"2011-11-05T05:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/simplelife\/?p=1901"},"modified":"2011-10-28T09:10:35","modified_gmt":"2011-10-28T13:10:35","slug":"making-lemonade-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/11\/making-lemonade-part-2.html","title":{"rendered":"Making lemonade–Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some time ago, I received an e-mail from a young friend whose life is being spent in China carefully sharing the Gospel with the people in that nation.\u00a0 She had just returned back from her home in the US. \u00a0I’d like to share part of her e-mail with you.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I got off the plane craving those little flat, sweet-bread things that a man and lady sell on the corner of the street outside my apartment building.\u00a0 I looked for the big metal barrel that\u00a0they use to cook the bread, but didn’t see it for the first two days that I was here.\u00a0 Then after school yesterday, I spotted it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sure enough, there they were with the big ball of dough, seasoning, and the big barrel with the fire that they stick the flattened dough inside.\u00a0 By inside, I really mean “to the side”…to the side of the inside.\u00a0 I wish I could mail them home, but they wouldn’t be warm and some of the yumminess is in the coldness in which you receive them.\u00a0 Coldness being the weather, not the service.\u00a0 Not at all.\u00a0 The people are so sweet and have huge smiles.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>But yesterday, I noticed something different.\u00a0 The man’s hands are so red and almost swollen.\u00a0\u00a0He\u00a0spends\u00a0his whole life rolling dough to make “wu mai,” five mao or the\u00a0equivalent of six cents in US dollars for one little bread.\u00a0 His hands are red because this is his livelihood.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>He stands out in the cold and then sticks his hands inside the very hot barrel to take the bread out.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

And so, my thought is this…What makes me so blessed that\u00a0I\u00a0have what I have?\u00a0 I really can’t explain how seeing hard-working men like this man messes me up.\u00a0 Seriously, it’s not justice.\u00a0 I don’t work that hard and I\u00a0don’t have to worry about having the things I need.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I am warm and well fed.\u00a0 I have clothes for my body and shoes for my feet.\u00a0 I hope that my life is a picture of gratefulness and more than that I hope I never take what I have for granted.\u00a0 “Lord, let me not get so wrapped up in comparing with those who have more than me that I forget how rich I really am.\u00a0 Forgive me when I thank so backwards.\u00a0 Help me to notice those around me and teach me how to love and give.”<\/em><\/p>\n

How perfectly this explains how I feel each day because I have been honored to know a group of\u00a0people through Special Gathering who are intellectually disabled. \u00a0Yet through their pain, they often experience deep gratitude because of their needs and wounds.<\/p>\n

Is there someone you know who has touched your life because of their generous and grateful spirit in the middle of deep needs?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some time ago, I received an e-mail from a young friend whose life is being spent in China carefully sharing the Gospel with the people in that nation.\u00a0 She had just returned back from her home in the US. \u00a0I’d like to share part of her e-mail with you. I got off the plane craving…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,305,5,20,40,287,186,49,16,8],"tags":[690,21,688,7,726,715,701,694,689,6],"class_list":["post-1901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-autism-spectrum","category-china","category-christianity","category-church","category-faith","category-faiths","category-hope","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged-community","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-christianity","tag-developmental-disabilities-2","tag-faiths","tag-hope","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disability","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-simple-scriptural-truths"],"yoast_head":"\nMaking lemonade-Part 2 - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/11\/making-lemonade-part-2.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Making lemonade-Part 2 - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some time ago, I received an e-mail from a young friend whose life is being spent in China carefully sharing the Gospel with the people in that nation.\u00a0 She had just returned back from her home in the US. \u00a0I’d like to share part of her e-mail with you. 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Howard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Making lemonade-Part 2 - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2011\/11\/making-lemonade-part-2.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Making lemonade-Part 2 - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","og_description":"Some time ago, I received an e-mail from a young friend whose life is being spent in China carefully sharing the Gospel with the people in that nation.\u00a0 She had just returned back from her home in the US. \u00a0I’d like to share part of her e-mail with you. 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