Certain smells

There are certain smells that send me to different places. The smell of a gas stove will always remind me of my Grandma's house when she would cook and bake for the army of family (mostly all ours) that she would have over around the holidays. The smell of cow manure takes me back to the exit we take off of I390 to snake our way down to my Dad's home town of Wayland, NY. The smell of toast, especially burnt toast, brings me back to my childhood when my Dad would make his breakfast and always darkened his toast way too much because he liked it that way. The smell of mothballs and ammonia would bring me to the Barret's house and the fun we would have there mostly outside and in their pool. The smell of nicely aged aquarium water sends me back to the times when, as a child, I would marvel at this fishy creatures and clean their tanks at an all-to-irregular schedule.

All of these smells, some pleasant and others that I could live without, remind me that I have been shaped. Thankfully, these experiences were not left to chance but were wonderfully orchestrated by a God in pursuit of my life. He tracked me down and the Hound of Heaven found that which He doggedly pursued for that I cannot be more grateful.

And then I wonder what smells my boys will re-encounter and where they will be taken when the scent fills their nostrils.