Smelling what's important
So, this has been a season of strange things. The fact that we all walk into stores these days looking like we’re under cover (or about to commit a crime) and don’t think twice about it… is strange. Well, this blog might just get added into the “strange” category – or “gross” – but two recent experiences got me thinking. And smelling.Thanks to COVID, colleges had extra long breaks. It didn’t hurt my feelings one bit that my daughter got to join us in Memphis on and off for 2 months. I hadn’t been spoiled with that much time around her since before she graduated from high school. Like any mom, I really missed her when she headed back to college.A few days after her departure, I was scurrying to grab a mask on my way into a store. The only thing I could find was a cloth mask that she had accidentally left in my car, so I threw it on. Then I stopped. It smelled just like her. Her perfume. Her hair product. Her lotion. Her. It was like she just got in the car with me again. It took my breath away in the best of ways.
Fast forward to a few weeks later and I was in the same predicament. This time, I’d changed cars and forgotten to move my mask stash. I opened the glove compartment and found Chris’s supply. Again, in the most unsanitary way, I threw on one of his masks and headed into the Post Office. You’d have thought that I’d learned my lesson and would have anticipated the experience. But no. I was met with the sweet smell of the person who is my rock on planet earth.For those who have lost loved ones, you know there’s a day when you’d give anything to have that person’s scent walk in the door one more time. As I reflected on these two similar experiences, it made me realize that I want to treasure the people in my life better than ever. I want them to know they take my breath away. I want them to know they hung the moon.We’re all imperfect. We all let each other down. But do the people whom God has put in your path know that they’re loved deeply? Do they know that you choose them? Make sure you take time today to give some extra love to the people you know. Let’s not take for granted that the season we share with them will last forever.