The Fragrance That Lingers

Written by Kelly

The other night I laid down with Little One before bedtime.  We snuggled in her bed face-to-face as she delved into her thoughts and secret heart musings. She's a deep thinker like her Mama. She's curious about everything and full of questions as she tries to understand the world around her.

Later that evening after tucking her in for the night, she called out, "Mama! My pillow smells like you!" My scent lingered long after I had gone.  The sweet smell of my perfume remained with her as she drifted to sleep. A sense of my presence giving her security.

Scents are powerful tools for the memory.

I still hold on to a half-empty bottle of my daddy's aftershave.  He was known for his signature scent.  On days when my heart is overwhelmed with missing him or I find myself almost picking up the phone to tell him a funny story about Caroline, I pull out that half-empty bottle and breathe him in and reminisce.  I pretend like he's right there as the familiar aroma comforts me.

2 Corinthians 2:14 says "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere."

Our scent, our fragrance lingers in others' lives.  It leaves impressions on hearts.  Impressions have the ability to give life or cause destruction.  

I learned in a Marketing class in college that our minds never actually lose memories.  They are there kept safe like a buried treasure waiting to be discovered.  Though, over time,  we lose the pathway to the memory.  The memory is forgotten, left behind until something sparks the pathway back to life.  The senses are the driving force for this process.  It is the reason marketers and advertisers seek to tap into scents, images, sounds, tastes that lead to the pathway of your memories.  They seek to help call forward the recollections that make us feel what they want us to associate with their featured product.  

This month, we will be exploring the topic of love.

Loving sacrificially.

Love for the world.

Receiving love.

Loving through your vocation, your calling.

Loving your community, your neighbor.

We plan to weave our way through all facets of love.  Because at the end of the day, how we love matters.  It impacts, it leaves an impression, it can form a pathway in others minds through the scent we leave behind.  

So think about this:  What fragrance are you spreading today?