Stories From A Lemonade Stand

Setting up a lemonade stand on the streets of Mexico can be pretty intimidating so the selection of a spot was done with care. It took a couple of hours before I was able to set up the table and give away cups of lemonade. Imagine my surprise when I looked across the street an hour later and realized I was catty corner to a Tarot Reading Shop. What would I do if I had to encounter them? It didn’t take long to find out. Soon out the door peered a young woman and small child. With lemonade and church brochure in hand, I offered a cool drink in the name of Jesus Christ the Redeemer.

By choice our location was a bit off the beaten path in order not be too assertive or thoughtless to those who were selling lemonade. Maria and I had been there about thirty minutes on the second day when two young women stopped by and insisted we move to a better location. Not only did they insist, but they began taking down our sign and carrying our table down the street. They plopped us down right on the corner of a busy street, and they were gone. My head whirling I wondered how that had happened. Maria knew, “Dad, you prayed on the way here that if we needed to change locations that God would move us.” He moved us.

The first time I saw him I thought he may be demon possessed. He was dirty, hunched over and wore a jacket and winter cap in summer weather. His garbled speech didn’t give me any confidence to the contrary. There he was on the other side of the street just staring at me…finally he walked away. Figuring that he would be back, I determined the next time I would offer him lemonade. He did return again and again. Now he gives greetings on the street with enthusiasm and that same garbled conversation.

There’s no better way to describe it than – drunk. He sat on a ledge just up the street, bent and saliva dribbling from his mouth. As others passed him they would walk by cautiously; some crossing the street to avoid him. He got up, staggered a few feet and picked up a discarded beer bottle, then tipped it up to get out any last drops. Finally he sat down again but this time only a few feet from us. What should we do and more importantly what would the Lord have us do in this situation? I walked over to him and extended a cup of lemonade. “Thank you, friend”, was his reply.

"O Father, that these people and others like them would be rescued from the dominion of darkness and brought into the kingdom of the Son You love, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. "

BEFORE & AFTER PIXS