Lately, since the weather is warm and summer is in full force, I have a new obsession…and it’s a Southern one at that. You’re going to laugh, because it’s lemonade….but it’s not just any old lemonade. It’s MINT lemonade. Sometimes I will get fancy and squeeze the lemons to make the lemonade myself, but let’s be honest… most of the time I just use Crystal Light. Let me tell you though, the secret to my lemonade lies in going out to my garden and cutting a few fresh sprigs of mint, muddling it and mixing it in. If you’ve never tried this, trust me…it is a GAME CHANGER. 

I do love lemonade in general, but there is just something so refreshing that comes to your taste buds when you add some homegrown mint.

Lately, I’ve really been thinking (nearly every time I drink that refreshing goodness) about what it’s like to be refreshing myself and about the people I’ve encountered who are just so darn refreshing themselves too. Do you know people like that? Those who when you’re around them, you think to yourself, “Wow, that was so refreshing!”

Ever wondered why we say that about some people and feel the exact opposite about others? You know, there’s a word for that. Exhausting. Draining. There are people who just suck the life right out of you. I’m sure you and I are guilty of being those people at times ourselves.

If you’re like me, you want to be the former and not the latter. But if I’m being honest, there have been many moments during this past season that I’ve been anything but refreshing. Thank goodness Jesus gives us grace and mercy for that too. 

So what does it mean to be refreshing and how on earth do we become those type of women? The ones who are like a breath of fresh air to be around. The ones who build others up, make them feel loved and seen and adored. The ones who are kindhearted and funny and light and depthful and sincere all at the same time. Ok…I know we are human and we won’t always be this way, but may I give a few points today that I think are crucial to being like a fresh glass of tall lemonade. AKA – A refreshing woman of God.

1. To be refreshing, we have to first be refreshed.

The state of being refreshing is unavailable to us if we haven’t been refreshed ourselves, and I’m not just talking about a tall glass of iced lemonade or a week long trip to Cabo (although that would be nice). The refreshing I’m talking about only comes from an encounter with Jesus. 

Do you feel distracted? Frazzled? Worn down? A hot mess? Friend, I’ve been there, and let me tell you something, we are not much good to anybody else (not our spouses, kids, friends, coworkers) if we don’t get alone with Jesus and experience His renewing and refreshing power. 

Let’s consider Mary and Martha in Luke 10…

“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’ ‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her’” (NIV).

Friends, I’ve learned this the hard way… but let me tell you, there is much less important things in this life than spending time with Jesus. We move from frazzled to fresh.

2. A refreshing requires rest.

I’m not a Bible scholar but I looked this up and was amazed. Did you know the Greek word for refreshing is anapsuxeos,and it means a cooling or a refreshing? It actually also means rest.What does rest look like for you? Are you taking time to carve it out in your day, your week? What are we filling our minds with during that time of rest? Is it making us feel healthy, rested, energized or drained and tired.

3. A refreshing requires repentance.

Yep, truly refreshing believers are not perfect people. They are people who have been refreshed by encounters with Jesus, are rested, and who regularly repent. Because well, they’re sinners too. Acts 3:19 says,“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” 

4. A refreshing starts a cycle.

When we are refreshed, we become refreshing, and when we become refreshing, we refresh others. When we refresh others, we become refreshed ourselves. Proverbs 11:25 says,“A generous man will prosper; He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”You see…this is the exact cycle that satan hates. Because it’s hard to break. Just like the ones he tries to trap us in and keep us from walking in this refreshness. Satan’s cycles usually involve busyness, distraction, believing lies about ourselves and our identity, unforgiveness…SIN.

Y’all….I want so badly to be a genuinely refreshing person. But can I tell you that it has nothing to do with anything I can muster up on my own strength. If anything, that just causes exhaustion and more frazzledness. It has everything to do with getting alone with Jesus, carving out time for rest, repenting regularly and recognizing my need for a Savior. In turn, the Holy Spirit in us will refresh others…because after all…that keeps the cycle going. 

My prayer for you and I is this…”May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”– Romans 15:13 

Let’s get life from the only true Life Giver so that we can in turn be life giving to a broken world.

Now go try yourself some fresh mint lemonade!

Today’s writer is Brookes Vaughan. Brookes is the founder of The Women’s Health Company, a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner, Jesus lover, healthy baker, and Georgia Bulldog through and through. Brookes and her husband Schuyler live in Watkinsville, GA (just outside of Athens) with their golden retriever, Riggins. Brookes would love to connect with you via email at brookes@thewomenshealthcompany.com or on Instagram @brookesbvaughan_np.