When I clicked onto Facebook this morning, I saw a post by "Home Made Simple", a website I enjoy looking at from time to time. It offers all kinds of tips for home organizing, recipes, etc. Today I saw this question: "What's your home's signature scent?" Some suggestions for winter are pine, vanilla, cinnamon, cranberry, peppermint, gingerbread...you get the idea.
I was reminded of a scripture verse found in II Corinthians 2:15. Depending on the translation you may be looking at, it goes something like this:
"Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God."
This verse has challenged and encouraged me over the years. Does my life smell good to God? Is my home filled with the sweet aroma of Christ? Do visitors feel a sense of peace here or is the air filled with tension? Are kind words spoken frequently? Does chaos reign in my life and in my home or is there order and rhythm that allows time for meditation, reflection, prayer, planning ahead, connecting with old friends, making new ones?
Today I'm thinking about the New Year and what I'd like to do differently to make my life and my home smell better to God and to others. I want to bring a little more order to the hours of the time I am given to make room for the things I know are important. Simple things like making phone calls to elderly friends and relatives, reading to my grandchildren, serving in the local outreach ministries our church supports.
This will be no easy task. I like to say that even though I am officially an "empty-nester", my life is anything but empty. In fact it is very busy and very full. But as another year has passed and another birthday approaches, I have to admit my energy levels are not what they used to be. And how ever many days I have left to live, they surely are fewer than the number I've already lived. I want to make the signature scent of my "home" the sweet aroma of Christ. I have a little cleaning up to do. How about you?
