Aroma

 I'm typing this in my phone n the dark sat in smalls room waiting for him to go to sleep, so expect lots of mistakes living with boys there are plenty of those around here but that's not what I'm in here to talk about. One of my favourite parts of getting ready in the morning is putting a small squirt of perfume on, mostly because I know that the next thing that is likely to happen is small boy give me a hug goodbye And i know that some of the smell will transfer to him so he carries me with him throughout the day. I used to love when that happened with my mum's perfume, it meant if felt a bit lonely during the day or missed her it felt like she was with me, in fact the tale end of her perfume bottle was one thing I hoped would be passed on to me when she died so I could imagine her with me if I needed 

We went to bressingham steam museum at the weekend, on one of the train ride we were in the carriage behind the engine, every whistle toot sent a flurry of smoke into our carriage leaving us going home with the strong smell of smoke in our clothes, hair, in our skin. That's the thing with strong aromas, they hand around and cling.

I've been challenged recently by this passage in the Bible15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task? 17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God.2 Corinthians 2:15-17

The numbers are what helps us find that passage in the Bible. I'm what I'm about to say may be well off , feel free to correct me in the comments or by message and I'll add it. It struck me that to carry the aroma of something to someone else you need to be immersed in it. If there's something you love you cling to it, read and watch everything you can about it. Tell others about it, like when you have friends that have really got into a box set and are convinced you should watch it too all they talk about is the latest episode and that article they read about the lead actors beauty routine. I sometimes wish my passion for Jesus and his word was like that. I try to use online resources, thanks to the pandemic lots of churches are still putting their services online I like to try and watch one s day. Different ones not the same one over and over, when I'm resting/napping I put on worship music hoping that I absorb some of the aroma of Christ to pass on to others or listen to the Bible through an app on my phone. Our church has just started publishing what passage is being preached on in advance. I find this really helpful as I can immerse myself in it before the service and am then much better set up to listen on a Sunday. I may well come back and edit this when I can use a bigger screen and have more time and thinking space.