Do You Smell That Smell?

 

First observation: why is it that when you smell something awful, you want others to experience it too? "Oh, that's horrible. Smell this." I had a smell experience this last week. I came home from work with a horrible potty-type smell filtrating my home. The first thought that entered my mind was that my dog had some major indigestion issues. After blaming him for his gaseous odors, I thoroughly sprayed Febreeze and opened windows. After letting my poochy potty, I realized the smell hadn't lessoned. My next guess was that my youngest son had decided to use the downstairs bathroom. I also thought that he needed some serious Pepto Bismol. After realizing he wasn't in the restroom, nor had he used it recently, I realized the mystery continued. And anyone who knows me knows I love a mystery. I began the sniffer walk through my home. Was it a dead mouse that my kitty had brought as a surprise gift? I ended my search in my kitchen. At first, I thought maybe my husband had cooked shrimp for himself and thrown away the shells, but the trash can was lacking the mystery odor. At the stove, my search had produced results. There was a stock pot on my stove that I had assumed was empty. We boil chicken every few days for my dog since he became sick. What I had not remembered was to dump the stock. I thought my husband had done it. He thought I had done it, and we had eaten out the last couple of days. When I hesitantly opened the lid, the most awful stench drenched my kitchen in odor. If I were a cartoon, my eyes would have rolled back, and I would have floated to the floor in a faint. I didn't faint, but the need to gag definitely made an appearance. After cleaning the pot, I air freshened the house with as many cans of spray as I could find and apologized to my son and dog for falsely accusing them. Have you noticed that our spiritual lives can be this way? We have something that God wants us to work on, and we put it off. Maybe it's too painful, like unforgiveness. Or maybe it's too uncomfortable to work on, like managing anger or giving God your anxiety and fear. Either way, when we put off dealing with what God has prompted, our issues sit stagnant until they become rancid. The issues begin to spread into other areas of our lives- our relationships, jobs, and even our attitudes until all are permeated with the effects of our issues. People will spend time with us, but instead of seeing Christ, they will see the symptoms of our issues. My challenge- deal with things right away. Don't wait until the stench overwhelms your whole home.

Have a great week high-heeled warriors!