Sweet and Sour...

I love the chicken balls, or chicken parts, or pork parts... whatever is underneath it, it's the sweet and sour sauce that is so good! It doesn't matter if it's deep-fried mystery meat (meow!)- if it's got sweet and sour sauce on it, I'll eat it...

Fellow Canadian missionaries Rod and Cheryl Hoople rent a house that happens to have a lemon tree on the property. Yesterday Cheryl gave Shar a large freezer-size bag full of lemons. So when Cheryl gives you lemons, make lemonade.... and so Shar did. Wonderful fresh lemonade.

Last night before bed I decided to have a cup of the new batch... I think Shar must have forgotten to put sugar in it- and likely water too because it was so sour my face almost imploded directly into my head! Sour- but no sweet! Not good- not good at all! So we added some more sugar and some water and finally- we had the balance we were looking for- sweet and sour... fresh from the tree lemonade.

Mexicans seem to love the sour taste of candy- though for them, it's not the sweet and sour taste they seem to like as much as the hot and sour. Tamarind candies (quite sour tree fruit) mixed with Chili pepper for kids! Lime flavoured chips- or lime an Jalapeno chips... It's taking some time for our kids to adapt to those tastes, but little by little...

This afternoon as I was getting another glass of lemonade, I got to thinking about the sweet and sour of life here sometimes. Like going to an orphanage that is in bad disrepair and meeting up with young kids who are starved for love. It is really really tough to see these kids who have been abandoned, usually after being neglected. It leaves a sour taste in your month to see what we see and to hear what we hear. But there is also the sweet... these kids are very sweet. They can be quite affectionate and thrive off of the love we're able to give them. It hurts at first to see the predicament they are in, but it is a blessing and a privilege to be able to love them in Jesus name too.

There is another orphanage that we are associated with. It is YUGO run Grace Children's Home. It is a very well run place. The kids come from terrible backgrounds and sometimes when they come in they are unaccustomed to rules even or love for that matter. But after time you see angry kids who screamed, hit and bit to make themselves known, respond to the love of Jesus shown them by the staff there. Sweet and the Sour... abandoned kids, loved by Jesus and His people.

If you ever want the opportunity to be the sugar in someones lemonade, we'd love to help make it happen for you! Come for a week or so though, because the sour may make you feel like your head is imploding, unless you have some time to add some sweetness!

Will write more later, I'm going to have another glass of lemonade...

Until next time,

Mike for the family.