LIFE NUGGET #3: Watered to Waft
As you may have noticed, we humans live a communally interactive life here on planet earth.
At Healthy Sh’tuff, it is our firmly rooted belief that we are created in the image of God, for the purpose of doing good works which He has prepared in advance for us to do through Him. When your “Purpose is fulfilled” it is a sweet aroma to all as we abide in Christ Jesus, Our Savior and Lord, here on earth. Every person is wonderfully knit together by The Creator’s intentional loving hands. Humanity is a Divinely designed tapestry that is complex and ever-changing. We are an intricate pattern of functional threads beautifully woven together with different strengths and functions. As our lives overlay, we activate the aroma of Christ into the world around. An olfactory display of the overwhelmingly powerful presence of God Himself. He waters us and quenches our deepest thirst with Himself and His Word. He is the Author and His Word the catalyst of life. As we drink deep of this spring of life, we are filled up with the nutrients to encourage others to live thriving, fruitful lives that evoke the fragrance of hope, joy, love, and encouragement.
We (my business partner / bestie and I) experienced this TRUTH firsthand just the other day. She and I were working in the same general room and had finished the morning tasks and were ready to take a break…
Here’s where the story begins: Spring here in Southeastern PA can be so exciting! The mornings start off frosty and climb into the balmy 70’s by midafternoon, almost unnoticed; oft times with an occasional change in the precipitation as well; starting with flurries ending with steam. This week started with one of those types of Spring days. We had begun working and inventorying products, checking and responding to emails as well as praying and planning. Soon it was time to head out on errands (that typically involved a coffee stop) and to get in some exercise before resuming stationary work for the second half of the day.
After about an hour, we had pulled back into the driveway and soon headed toward the front porch. As we made our way up the walkway, she noticed that the beautiful dainty flowers that had been planted in the hanging baskets looked parched…as if while we had been running errands, they had been hiking in the Mojave. Upon entering the house, she went straightway to get a watering can, and proceeded to fill it with cool water from the tap to quench their burgeoning root thirst. I sat down and rebooted the computer and picked up where I had left off. The neighborhood outside was a stir with busy worker “bees” and rumbling construction equipment. Some of them were preparing a modular home site and another group of men were constructing a front stoop across the street. It was humming inside and out with productivity; and then delicately, throughout the air, a sweet fragrance undulated from the petals of those formerly wilted little flowers.
The atmosphere was being transformed from the project smells of dust and wet dirt to a pleasant perfumery simply because those little flowers were seen and their life needs acknowledged. Bit by bit, the afternoon waxed on, and the noises outside grew noticeably fainter. Twas quitting time, the crew members had wrapped up their day’s tasks, and had put their tools, big and small, back where they each belonged. Even so, the breeze continued to whisper through the screens and she, who had so attentively tended the thirsty flowers, got a wonderful fresh wafting of their presence. She reflected Our Heavenly Father as she cared for them in this kind, intentional way. The reward was a delightful treat to the nostrils that brought a curve to the lips. Wow, thank You Lord. The sweet aroma danced through the windows and sweetened the whole room, and as it did it lifted our hearts. Ah, the sweet fragrance of a thriving life!!!
Moral of the story is this: Be mindful of walking in your gifts. They are life-giving to those who receive them and a testimony of Who’s you are. Give a cup of cool water to the visibly wilted and evoke a sweet eternal waft!
