God fills us with His goodness and sustains us.   ~~~   Have you ever been excited about a lemon? Well I have and I’ll tell you why! I got one for Christmas this year. It wasn’t wrapped in a box or anything, I actually picked it off of a tree. This wasn’t just any lemon off of any lemon tree. This was a lemon that grew on a lemon tree that my parents bought and planted in a pot. My Daddy was so proud of that little lemon tree. If they got at least 2 big lemons each year they were happy, because that meant at least one or two lemon meringue pies. My Daddy met Jesus face to face this past summer. Goodness how we miss him. We’re still in the year of firsts. This first Christmas without him, our family gathered. Even though Daddy’s no longer with us, he’s still everywhere around us. So much of who he was and what he loved and lived for, remains in us and in ways, in all things he left behind. One of the things he enjoyed was that lemon tree. This Christmas, it was full of lemons. Everybody got one. Round, yellow rays of sunshine in a way from Daddy. I’ve never been more excited about a lemon. Now something else you should know about me is I LOVE lemons. I am an avid lemon water drinker. I have been for a long time. So bringing one of the lemons that my Daddy loved home with me for Christmas was just about the best gift I could have gotten. I didn’t want to cut it at first. I wanted to just keep it, but I knew it would go bad if I didn’t. It was meant to be picked, and enjoyed. So I did. I sliced it up, filled a glass of water and squeezed a big slice in and let it float to the top. Do you think I enjoyed that glass of lemon water? Listen, I drank every drop. Then I filled it up again and drank all that. That wasn’t just any lemon water. That was lemon water from a fresh lemon off of a lemon tree my Daddy loved and cared for! That just made it taste that much better. It was good. I felt close to my Daddy and I was refreshed. Isn’t that the way this life is supposed to be lived? We have a father who is good. He is a giver of good gifts. He is our good shepherd and IN Him I shall not want. He refreshes my soul and IN Him I am blessed and filled up as I taste and SEE His goodness in my life. Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. When you savor something good, you want more. You can’t stop talking about it. You give five star reviews because you want people to know the goodness you’ve experienced. The Lord IS good. What I have tasted and seen in my life over and over keeps me abiding IN Him. I take refuge in Him. I am connected to the vine. He IS my portion. When I am poured out He fills me up yet again. He is ALL I need in and out of every season. When I see His moving in my life and when I simply must wait, I know He is with me working it all for my good, in HIS time. Nothing else compares to the Father’s love for me. It’s so sweet. I’m not sugar coating anything here. Life IS hard and sometimes you get lemons. But then again, sometimes you get lemons! Through it all, I can be refreshed, renewed and know He is with me. That’s the truth. Have you tasted the goodness of God? It’s good water. I’m Lori Cline.