There is a State Park not far from where I live, that used to be a granite quarry. There are trails to walk on and the view is beautiful. At the highest point of the park are crevasses and small indentations in the rock where small "puddles" one of which is approximately 12 inches long and maybe 2 inches deep and it offers a home for tadpoles and other small aquatic creatures. There is very little soil at this point, only huge granite boulders. Yet there are three and four-foot oak and cedar trees, stunted and dwarfed from lack of nourishment and water, virtually growing out of the granite. Windblown and toughened by the elements these trees are full of wonder. Their roots run deep searching out water, which in turn anchors them in the rock more firmly. As Christians, I think we often resemble these trees. The struggles and sorrows of our life beat us down, however . . . unlike these small stunted trees we don't have to stay that way. If we expand our trust in God, send our "roots" deeper into His love and sustaining grace we will become stronger. We can provide "shade" and "protection" for others who are struggling. He is our strength and our life support. Thank you Lord for teaching me to see your strength around me.

Aromatic Memories

"What is an aromatic memory?" you might ask. We all have them. Just think about it for a minute, I am sure some will come to mind. Sometimes a certain fragrance reminds us of a loved one who has passed on. The smell of flowers brings to mind a beautiful bouquet given by our spouse. Whose mouth doesn’t water at the aroma of peanut butter cookies, home made bread or a neighbor’s barbeque. The smell of vanilla for instance, always reminds me of when I was a little girl helping my Mom in the kitchen. We were baking a batch of cookies. When I measured the vanilla for my Mom, it smelled so good. I remember asking her if it tasted as good as it smelled. "It smells better than it tastes" she replied. "But it smells so good" I said. With a smile, she said, "Go ahead taste it if you want to." So I poured some into a teaspoon, brought it up to my nose and inhaled the enticing aroma, opened my mouth and in went the spoon of vanilla. "Yuck, yuck, yuck, that’s nasty!" I groaned. As I sputtered and made a few horrible faces, my mother looked at me and laughed. "I told you it smells better than it tastes."

Almost daily an aroma will trigger some memory from each of us, and many times we don’t even give it a thought. The smell of rain causes me to pause and take a deep breath of the "clean freshness" in the air; I don’t stop and think about taking a deep breath I just do it automatically. The chocolaty smell of brownies conjures of the vision of ice-cold milk as an accompaniment to a warm brownie. Some times the enticing aroma of something can be very disappointing, like the vanilla was for me. There are many things that come our way like a sweet aroma. Many times if we don’t choose wisely we find ourselves regretting the choices we make. Some of our bad choices are not difficult to change, but others can take a lifetime trying to get out of. When we make bad choices with the things we say to others, we can’t take the words back, we can apologize, but the hurt is still there. That enticing temptation was "too good to be true". We find ourselves thinking, yuck, yuck this is a nasty situation to be in. We need to "test the water" before jumping into new situations, or we may find ourselves in water over our head. God gives us warnings as my Mother did about the vanilla, yet He allows us to make the decision. Sometimes He laughs with us, sometimes He cries with us. He is always there, holding His hand out; to pull us out of the "yucky" situations we get ourselves into.

(Thank you Heavenly Father, for teaching me this simple lesson in a simple way. So many times we complicate our walk with You. Lord, please help us remember the simple basics of Your bountiful grace and abundant love for us. Thank you Father for all you teach me let my heart’s desire be to always serve you. Amen.)