May
24
2017
The Fragrance
Posted in Evangelism 2 Comments
We were trying to figure out how we first met.
Our youngest daughters are the same age.
They were in youth group together.
We go to the same church.
However, there was a moment.
There was that occasion when our friendship began.
Neither one of us was certain.
Not until I gave her a hug.
That’s how we first met, she said, glad that she remembered.
It was your perfume, she continued.
That may sound odd to some but to her my perfume was very special.
The perfume I wear is one that her mother wears as well.
I have been wearing the same perfume for thirty years.
I am so used to the fragrance, I can never smell it myself.
It lingers on the scarves that I always wear.
It lingers around the collars of coats and jackets.
Lipstick and perfume are two things I never go without.
Back in my college days and when I was first married, I really did not have a fragrance.
I had many fragrances that I liked to wear.
I would change my perfume at whim.
Right after my second child was born, I found a new fragrance.
The fragrance was first introduced in 1985.
It was a year after its introduction that the fragrance became mine.
I purchased the perfume when my husband was away for three weeks on business.
I knew that I was flying out to be with him about halfway through his trip.
I knew that I would miss my two little daughters who were well taken care of at home.
However, being there for my husband was important.
The new fragrance was something I wanted to do for a little change.
The rest is history.
My husband loved the fragrance just as much as I did.
In fact, he will always buy me an entire gift set each year of perfume, lotion, and powder.
The fragrance has unwittingly become my signature scent.
When my friend hugged me at church, it was my perfume she noticed.
The perfume brought back sweet memories to her as well.
Apparently, the scent is me, or so I’m told.
I could not change my fragrance even if I was so inclined.
I actually went on the Estee Lauder website to read about my fragrance.
The company goes to great length to describe each of their fragrances.
I read about the base fragrances of my perfume.
I read the description.
The fragrance of a thousand flowers.
A rich blend of Rose, Lily, Tuberose and Orange Flower.
Brightened with citrus, warmed by woods.
Romantic, feminine, memorable.
Top Notes: Rose, Mandarin, Lily, Tuberose, Marigold
Middle Notes: Orange Flower, Muguet, Jasmine, Ylang-Ylang
Base Notes: Sandalwood, Vetiver, Amber
A fragrance that made every woman feel she was the most beautiful woman in the room. Ever romantic. Beautiful is represented by a bride to symbolize a woman at her most feminine, romantic, and beautiful.
I smiled at the description.
Perfume descriptions are a bit over the top.
I remembered all of the print advertisements for Beautiful perfume featured a bride.
I never realized that it was intentional to the scent.
It is flattering to have someone tell me that they like my perfume.
That is not why I wear it.
I wear perfume because I do not feel fully dressed without it.
I have to admit that I like having a fragrance that is mine.
When my son got married last summer, I gave a bottle of perfume to my daughter-in-love.
She always liked the smell of my perfume whenever she hugged me.
She used to wear Beautiful perfume occasionally, years before.
It seemed like the perfect gift to give her for her wedding day.
She did wear Beautiful perfume on the day she married my son.
As the bride, she was the most beautiful woman in the room.
The fragrance was something we shared that day.
The photographer even took a picture of the pretty bottle with the word, Beautiful, displayed.
I am not sure if a perfume can make you the most beautiful woman in the room.
There is something else.
There is something that is indescribable.
There is something that lingers and wafts through the air that reminds you of Someone else.
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death, to the other the fragrance of life. (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)
That is the fragrance we want to linger in the room after we are gone.
That is the fragrance we want people to remember.
That is the fragrance that leaves an impression.
It is the fragrance of Christ.
We want to smell just like Him.
We want to leave the room and have people know that the Spirit of Jesus had been there.
We have the privilege of spreading His fragrance everywhere we walk.
We have the privilege of leaving the aroma of Christ so they remember Jesus, not us.
The aroma of Christ does indeed make you the most beautiful woman in the room.
Since we are His Bride, the beautiful aroma is fitting.
We are His.
He loved us so much that He would rather die on the cross than live without us.
How can you not feel beautiful when you know a love like that?
I welcome the compliment on my fragrance.
It makes me think of my Lord Jesus.
It is His fragrance that lingers when I leave a room and I am so delighted.
On Saturday I hugged a lovely lady who smelled good. She told me it was Beautful – his (her late husband) favorite and today you wrote about it. No coincidence! Thanks. I pass your article on to her
How wonderful, Barb!
No coincidence, just Whispers from the Lord.
Gina