“Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one’s friend springs from his earnest counsel.” (Proverbs 27:9)
Next week we’ll look at Mary’s Magnificat, but let’s slow down and consider this lovely proverb on friendship. This will be a great contemplative exercise.
1. Take the first phrase. What does it say? Why do you think this is true?(What can you learn from science about what fragrance can trigger?)
2. What does the next phrase say? What is “earnest counsel?”
3. How does Elizabeth’s greeting exemplify this proverb?
4. Share a story from your own life that illustrates this proverb.
5. Find just one comment from this blog (any post) that beautifully illustrates this proverb. (In doing this, you will also be living out this proverb!)
57 comments
1. “Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart”. I looked up what fragrance can trigger on line and was surprised to first read to only spray perfume’s and cologne’s on your clothes as they are made up from chemicals and can get into your blood stream. But aromatherapy, body and essential oils and incense and perfumes and cologne will give self confidence, pleasure, relax your mood, give calming affects and even gives you energy and helps with a ailing morale and will trigger your emotions and enhance your moods and improves your concentration and helps with stress and anxiety and triggers memory and gives you a general sence of well being! Wow!
2. “And the pleasantness of one’s friend springs from his earnest counsel” proverbs 27:9. My bible say’s ” Oil and perfume make the heart glad, but the soul is torn by trouble”.
Earnest counsel and trouble are what close friends go through alot and need the prayers and counsel of their friends. My closest friend here says that I have saved her thounsands of dollars by being her christian counselor! The same is true for her…for me! We talk about our family or problems or whatever and pray about them. I think this is what that verse may be saying. I’m anxious to hear other’s comments about it.
3. I think Elizabeth’s greeting exemplify’s this proverb in how she welcomed and recieved Mary’s visit. She gave her affirmation and glorified baby Jesus in her womb and helped her get through the tough things, like people talking about her and etc. She was counseling her in her trouble and praising God in her situation. Just like the good things that perfume gives…Elizabeth gave to Mary.
That was a beautiful description of what friends should give to one another! Thank you Joyce! That was beautiful!
1. I looked this up and found that scientific studies say that incense and perfume lowers anxiety and diminishes depression and that it can trigger memories.
I am going to come back to this, but just thought I would post what I found.. I took a break from cleaning and need to get back…
Now to put this together with the rest of question #1. :0)
I had never understood why certain scents can give me so much joy. More is affected than just my sense of smell. Hand lotion that I’m sure is no longer available was one. When I visited Rhode Island in the fall a few years ago I was overjoyed just with scents. It was fall and I particularly noticed the smell of the mulch, completely different than it smells in NC. The smell of lilacs is another. I just read The Sacred Romance and the authors had much to say on this subject. I hope I get this right. Dee, please correct me if not. My take was that scents that we remember from a time of innocence can remind us of that time when we were innocent. That is why so much more feeling is involved than just what a scent can arouse.
Maybe that has nothing to do with pleasant smells in general but I thought it very interesting.
Here is what I found from Psychology Today (not sure how reliable they are).
[“An odor has no personal significance until it becomes connected to something that has meaning, Herz says. With your initial encounter, you begin forming nerve connections that intertwine the smell with emotions. The capacities for both smell and emotion are rooted in the same network of brain structures, the limbic system. The olfactory center also interacts directly with the hippocampus, a brain area involved in the formation of new memories. “No other senses have this kind of deep access,”]
I am posting the link to the article because, while interesting, it is hard for me to summarize. http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200711/the-hidden-force-fragrance.
I think basically they are saying that scents can make a shortcut through the brain to emotions.
I have experienced what you are sharing —
the fragrance of a balsam pine triggers warm Christmas memories
the fragrance of lilacs takes me back to childhood, gathering them for my mother
the sweet neck of my newborn grand-daughter, to all the babies I’ve held and loved
Interesting that the Song of Songs also begins with fragrance of her Beloved…
Great start!
1. “Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart…”
I wont add anything to you scientific ladies who have done a great job giving us the science of smells and how they affect us! Personally, when I first thought of this, I thought “ick”…I’m not a perfume-wearer as I prefer all the unscented stuff for my sensitive skin! And usually being around women who wear strong perfume gives me a headache!
But….yes, natural fragrances do trigger strong memories and emotions for me, too, as Anne and Dee have so beautifully expressed. Certain smells make me think of home, where I grew up.
The smell on a cold winter’s night of smoke from the chimneys of houses reminds me of being outside at night shovelling the driveway and how my dad always loved to build a fire in the fireplace on cold winter nights.
My mom and dad’s house just has a certain smell; if I’ve been over there during the day often one of my kids will smell me and say “You’ve been at grandma’s!”
I love the smell of fall – you can smell the drying, falling leaves, the scent of apples at the orchard; the smell of spring you can smell the earth; each season has its own unique smell.
The smell of peonies and lilacs remind me of my mom’s flowers; she grows both.
I can still remember the smell of my grandma when she put on her Ponds Cold Cream at night. Warm apple pie – my mom’s pies! Yes, these smells, even when I “smell” them in my mind, evoke longings for home and family and brings up so many memories.
And reading what Anne discovered in Psychology Today makes me think how God designed our brains and our sense of smell to work together like this!
Dee and Susan, you have both brought to mind so many wonderful scents in my memory also. My mom was a wondeful cook and baker. Coming home from school and smelling fresh baked bread or cinnamon rolls or pies was the best! My dad smelled like wood, like cedar, as he was a wood worker in his spare time, but when he would come home from work, he smelled like his leather mail carriers bag he carried for 30 years! I love the smell of babies too…when their diapers are changed!
Blessings to IL, Dee
Ladies, I have two prayer requests. The first is for my dad and he has been having these spells of dizziness almost every day. He’s been to the doctor and he doesn’t know what it is. He had one yesterday while walking the treadmill at the gym. He gets very lightheaded and has trouble walking.
The second is for a family in my neighborhood whose son is on trial this week for aggravated murder that happened last April. I know the family needs lots of prayer to get through this – the parents and also the younger brother of this young man.
And Renee, still praying for you.
Rebecca – any update on your sister-in-law and how she’s doing?
Susan, I am praying for your dad. I’m sure the Doctor has checked everything, but I use to get light headed because of low blood pressure and inner ear problems. Also migraine headaches or taking my self off an antidepressant also caused this. Just thinking out loud! Nothing is worse than dizziness. My prayers go out to your dad and also to the family of this young man going to trial. May this man give his heart to the Lord and beg for forgivness. Please Lord help them all throught this terrible, terrible time. Give them all strength to get through it and draw them all nearer to you.
Susan, am praying for your dad and for the family in your neighborhood. That must be horrible what they are going through.
So far, my sister in law seems to be hanging in there. She is heavily medicated right now and still struggles. She has good and bad days and isn’t out of the woods yet. I guess this depression was a monster for her. Thanks for asking!! Please keep praying for her. My brother told me that they live next door to the pastor of their church and they hadn’t been to church in a long time. They went a few weeks ago and he said it felt really good. Keep praying!! God is working! 🙂
praying
Susan, Will pray for your dad and for the family in your neighborhood.
Thanks, everyone, for your continued prayers. Visitation/funeral are tomorrow and Saturday.
My prayer’s Renee that you and your family will be able to get through the funeral and the days to come and the spirit will lift you up. May there be great joy through memories and happy times spent with your mom, and everyone will give you much needed comfort and love. You are loved here by all us sisters.
I amen Joyce’s prayer.
You come to my mind often Renee – lifting you up in prayer..
Renee — thinking of you and praying, Susan — your dad and your neighbor.
I’m headed to southern Illinois for speaking on The God of All Comfort — appreciate prayer.
You’ve done so well with question 1 — eager to see you go on.
Love to each of you
Dee
Heavenly Father,
I do pray for Dee’s speaking on You, the God of All Comfort, and that her listeners may be richly blessed by her earnest counsel, that her words may be a sweet perfume and bring hope and healing to their hearts. Please give Dee safe travel to Illinois and protect her while there.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen
Yes, Father, I pray this also.
2. What does the next phrase say?
I had to look this one up in several different translations to try to get the gist of it. I like:
“Oil and perfume rejoice the heart, so does the sweetness of a friend’s counsel that comes from the heart.” (Amplified Bible)
“The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.”
(New Living)
So what is “earnest counsel”, or “counsel that comes from the heart” or “heartfelt counsel”?
I think it’s more than an “off-the-cuff answer”. It must come after careful and thoughtful listening, being sensitive to the Spirit’s guidance and perhaps even silently praying for the words to say.
The proverb definitely links this kind of counsel with the heart.
We talked about how smells that are sweet to us have an effect on our hearts, they stir our emotions, memories, they are pleasant.
So too the earnest, heartfelt counsel of a friend must make a connection with my heart in that I know their words tell me how much they love me and care about me and want to point me in the right direction, always toward God. When I think of their words and remember them, they are like the sweet smell that reminds me of good things.
I just thought of a program on the radio this week where a man was talking about his difficult teenage years, and a teacher who mentored him, and he said something like “When I get down today, I STILL HEAR HIS WORDS…” and he went on to say how those words encourage him all these years later.
It makes me think of the weight of our words. Do my words bring about a sweetness to others when they remember them? Wow. Especially the words I say to my children, my husband. Maybe this is why Jesus said that we will be held accountable for every careless word….
Earnest counsel must be words then that speak truthfully, but in love; that build-up and not tear down, that press others on to be all they can be and not leave them feeling worthless.
Susan, love most everything you said in your answer! So true! Our words can provoke either a good memory or a bad memory in someone’s heart. The tongue of the one who is counseling can bring on destruction or healing, can tear down or build up.. that is serious stuff. We can effect someone’s life for a LONG time with our words. Proverbs 15:4 “A tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.”
I wonder, what fragrance am I to my friends, my children, my husband? Hmmm…
Great thoughts Susan and Rebecca. Thank you.
“So too the earnest, heartfelt counsel of a friend must make a connection with my heart in that I know their words tell me how much they love me and care about me and want to point me in the right direction, always toward God. When I think of their words and remember them, they are like the sweet smell that reminds me of good things.”
Love your thoughts Susan! Love your last paragraph also: “Earnest counsel must be words then that speak truthfully, but in love; that build up and not tear down, that press others on to be all they can be and not leave them feeling worthless.” Great thoughts Susan! Thanks!
2. What does the next phrase say? What is “earnest counsel?”
* and the pleasantness of one’s friend springs from his earnest counsel.”
I am looking at this in regard to what we have already discussed- how a fragrance infects our soul so deeply as to provoke memories, feelings etc..It can rock our world for better or for worse. A bad scent or a scent that is surrounding a bad memory can also provoke terror or anxiety in the heart if not for a moment, for a long time.
I might be off here, but here is a stab at understanding that verse:
Earnest counsel is the most exquisite fragrance we can ever smell because it is ENCOURAGING, wise counsel that comes from the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t condemn or tear down, but lifts up and can bring true peace to our soul that can only come from Jesus. The pleasantness SPRINGS from that fragrance. It permeates the heart in a fulfilling, encouraging way.
When that friend walks into your presence their pleasantness or fragrance is illuminating to your soul! It lifts you up and your heart turns over when you encounter them. When a friend who brings a bad fragrance is in your presence the opposite usually occurs. You tend to stay away from them. When they come into your presence your soul shrinks back like in the Song of Solomon and you go back into the cleft of the rock and hide. You fear you will be hurt again.
You did a great job with that, Rebecca! Your example of the bad fragrance and how our soul shrinks back made me think of times when I’ve been hurt by words – and how it really does feel like my heart kind of flips over, but in an unpleasant way. It’s like a stabbing of the heart.
I like how you described the pleasantness “springing” from that fragrance of their wise, encouraging counsel.
Susan and Rebecca…what great thoughts! When you brought up about bad scents bringing up bad memories; I think of the times I was abused in my first marriage. I still remember his cologne of English Leather and being cornered in a corner and can’t get away (still can’t stand to be cornered). Fearful thoughts to this day. But also I’m remembering the “Earnest Counsel” of my mentor and best friend, Mary then. I know God brought me her for that reason at that time. Just remembering and thinking out loud.
Oh Joyce. This hurts to hear. I am so glad to know you now and hear your testimony of how God has been faithful to you even through these awful things.
Wow, Joyce I can’t imagine anyone hurting you like that. I am so sorry that happened, but it looks like God has turned it around for His glory.
You know since we started this study I hadn’t thought about fragrance and scents provoking emotions and really how much impact that had..
SO, I was at the Dollar store with the boys and looked at some incense. I would NEVER pull it off the shelf and smell it as I am not interested in incense, but I knew there were two scents that would hold memories. So I pulled off ‘Sandalwood’ and tried it to see if it would bring back memories, and it did and they weren’t good, but that is o.k. God just confirmed in my soul our study in what we were learning and what He wants to teach me. 🙂
Ditto on the sandalwood :{ Bad old days…I visited a Catholic church that I loved but that incense was awful.
Love your last paragraph Rebecca!
This seems like such a silly thing compared to other things that are happening but I feel that I should ask for prayer for my neighbors. They are wonderful, as different from me as night and day, but I do appreciate them. She has what I have always thought were far out ideas about God(like she thinks that everyone is saved) and he has had a bad experience with church and will not set foot in one.
Today when I came home from work I found their cat on the side of the road across the street. He was without a doubt the best cat I have ever known. He hung out in my driveway and I was always afraid I would run him over. We used to have a Doberman and this cat was best friends with him…we have a picture of them rolling on the ground together.
Sorry to cry about such a small thing but it hurts and they are really hurting.
When the house next door first came up for rent, I prayed for the right neighbors. They were the first and only ones to look at it and they have lived there ever since (about 10 years now). I know that God put them there for a reason.
Thank you dear sisters.
Oh, that makes me so sad. We have a small dog and a big outdoor cat and if anything happened to them like that, I would be so heartbroken. Praying for them.
Anne, will pray for them and for you too..
Lord, thank you that you have made Dogs and Cats to bring us such joy, and thank you for the capacity for having close attachments to them and Lord thank you that you do care for them through us. Please comfort Anne’s neighbors as they go through the loss of their cat as well as Anne. Comfort them as they remember their beloved cat and friend and comfort Anne as well as she loved the cat too. In Jesus precious name..
2. What does the next phrase say? What is “earnest counsel?”
My translation says something different than I expected here. The sweetness of a friend is better than self counsel. I have been thinking that ‘earnest counsel’ may not always be sweet. It will take me a while to sort out my thoughts here. Is a friend sweet if she always speaks positive words to me? I think when Proverbs speaks of sweet, it may not always be the words I want to hear but it may be the words I need to hear, the words that will change my direction. The key may be in the truthfulness of the words. Speak the truth in love…
So what is self counsel? That would seem to be what we say to ourselves. The problem with that is, while we want truth we are actually quite blind when we are looking at ourselves. Even looking in a mirror we can’t see ourselves as others do. A good friend will be honest, loving the positive but not withholding the painful.
Anne, Excellent.. That is true. When you posted your response I thought of Proverbs 27:6. “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.”
Here is what I found in Matthew Henry’s commentary on Prov. 27:6
“It is good for us to be reproved, and told of our faults, by our friends. If true love in the heart has but zeal and courage enough to show itself in dealing plainly with our friends, and reproving them for what they say and do amiss, this is really better, not only than secret hatred (as Lev. 19:17), but than secret love, that love to our neighbors which does not show itself in this good fruit, which compliments them in their sins, to the prejudice of their souls.
Faithful are the reproofs of a friend, though for the present they are painful as wounds. It is a sign that our friends are faithful indeed if, in love to our souls, they will not suffer sin upon us, nor let us alone in it. The physician’s care is to cure the patient’s disease, not to please his palate.”
Wow! That is good! Especially that last sentence.
3. How does Elizabeth’s greeting exemplify this proverb?
Mary had plenty of time on her journey to think about what the angel had told her. How could she, a girl of 14 years have understood the full implication of what he had said? But when Elizabeth greeted her, she spoke the truth as revealed to her from God and Mary was affirmed with assurance that agreed with what Gabriel had said. They were able to rejoice, basking together in revelation from God. Elizabeth said “She who has believed is blessed because what was spoken to her by the Lord will be fulfilled!” On that note Mary broke forth in song.
Elizibeth’s words were sweet because they were from God.
3. How does Elizabeth’s greeting exemplify this proverb?
* When Elizabeth sees Mary here are her words of “earnest counsel” to her: “In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”
* How does Elizabeth exemplify this proverb: Mary was in awe of what God was doing inside her and through her, and I am sure she was in shock still and really needed affirmation, and boy did God give her exactly the affirmation she needed through the earnest counsel of Elizabeth.
4. Share a story from your own life that illustrates this proverb.
* Wow, mine seems SO SMALL compared to Mary’s obviously, but here it goes.
I am in awe or feel unworthy that God would use me in any way whether it be teaching children or singing. There have been two times God has brought strength to my soul when I have felt “how can he use me? an old lady who sings?” ;P
Then God affirmed me first with a gal at our church who came up to me and said, “God has used every song you have sung this past year to help get me through a very tough time in my life. It was amazing how every song pertained to what I was going through. ” -THAT really moved me and was an encouragement that God was in the details and was moving in others hearts as I sang.
Another gal, “It isn’t really your voice, but it is ‘how’ you sing, ‘how’ God works through it.. I can’t explain it.” -That was honest and totally focused on the Holy Spirit.. SO, to GOD be the glory!
Speaking of singing…God just brought some things to mind for you all to pray about for me.
The reason I am asking for prayer is that I need clarification from God. I am not sure if He wants me to help my husband out with his new job AND go ahead and keep singing. I am not sure I can do both due to the nature of the timing of helping my husband.
What is interesting is that lately I have been having a desire to write lyrics, and am not hearing from God on the next cover song He would have me sing at Church. I have never had this long of a pause from God before so I am waiting.
I am writing lyrics to a song now in regard to what I am learning here on this blog study about seeing God’s fingerprints every day, in every detail of life. I am asking God to bring a woman who can write music into my path if He wants me to move forward in writing my own songs. I think if God wants me to go in that direction he will bring that person along, so pray for me in that regard.
I am not sure if God is done with the ministry of singing in my life or if he is simply moving me in a different direction. Either way I want to hear Him and obey. Again, I need earnest counsel on that if God leads; It is my prayer that if God leads someone would give me a word from Him on this.
Heavenly Father we praise You not only for the way You provide for each of us gifts and talents but also for the way You use them to minister in the lives of Your people. Your ways are perfect. Thank You for the affirmation Rebecca has received from one who has been blessed by her faithfulness.
Thank You for the new job You have provided for her husband. Please provide for all of the assistance he needs for this job blessing the work of his hands. If this assistance is to come from Rebecca please give her the resources she needs to do what he needs.
I admit Lord that I can’t imagine You not calling Rebecca to use the musical gifts You have given her but Your ways are not my ways. Help her to follow You step by step and day by day. Show her the path that she may walk in it. How wonderful it would be if she had someone like Rich Mullins to write song lyrics for her! In boldness and humility, we ask You to raise up such a person as this.
For each on of us I ask that You show us the way that we may walk in it. May our lives bear much fruit for Your kingdom. We love You Lord! Amen
Sorry Rebecca. I see that the request was for you to write the lyrics. May you write like Rich Mullins(my favorite song writer)!
Anne, Awesome! Thanks!! Oh no, that is o.k. I always figure if we don’t give the details right or someone accidently reads it wrong God knows! Thanks again for talking with God about it for me I really appreciate it. 🙂
Oh Rebecaa, you are so talented! I hope you can still sing and write lyrics but I pray God uses you where he needs you most. If you would have her write the lyrics, I pray you would put someone in her path to write the music, Lord. Please bless Rebecca’s family …and sister-in-law.
Joyce, thank you for those kind words.. you are a sweetheart! Thanks SO MUCH for praying for me!!
4. A story that illustrates our proverb…I have a trail of pain behind me because of either trying to be honest with someone or failing to do so. It is truly an art. I have one friend who is so dear and so I will share concerning her. I work with her and she has a very hard time with the difficulty of the job when her perception is that it should not be so hard. I fully agree that it need not be so hard at times but there is nothing we can do about that. I have listened to her concerns for a long time and watched what happens to her. Finally, I had to tell her that people may be lashing out at her because they see her as a complainer. As I said it I thought to myself, there goes that friendship. But she is truly a woman of beauty. I could tell that she was thinking about it and her behavior did change in the days following and we are still friends! She is a great nurse but as is so often the case, only her patients can appreciate her and they are not in a position to remember. I pray for her that she will be able to work as unto the Lord.
Wow. Maturity on both of your parts.
5. Find just one comment from this blog (any post) that beautifully illustrates this proverb. (In doing this, you will also be living out this proverb!)
* This may sound cheesy to you all, ;0) but this is what God showed me in searching for a comment to post to this question:
If you scroll through the comments on the post entitled “How God Leads You to Friends” you will find a beautiful picture of nine sisters sitting next to a fountain of water giving each other sips, and the aroma that permeates the air has a VERY pleasing scent. ♥
Going looking!
That is a lovely post!
I’ll post tonight — but for your Sunday reflection —
how is Christ a sweet smelling fragrance? Think of Scriptures that are relevant, your own experience with Him, and how it might relate to this proverb.
The love of Christ displayed in His sacrifice is a fragrant offering to God (Ephesians 5:2). In as much as we are vessels of His love and share in His sacrifice we carry His fragrance. According to 2 Corinthians 2:14, God puts Christ on display in us. Verse 16 says that to some we are the scent of death leading to death but to others the scent of life. That would explain why some are so offended by the name of Christ and some believe and find life.
I think that as we live out our lives in Christ we put on display His love and sacrifice in our salvation and ability to walk in Christ, carrying His scent into the world around us. It is important to also say that according to Ephesians 5:3 we can also stink if we act improperly.
Above all else, I would say that the fragrance of Christ is His love. All the reasoning and winning every argument with scripture may not go straight to the heart the way the scent of love can. 1 Corinthians 13.
2 Corinthians 2:14-16 “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumph, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowlegde of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among thoses who are parishing, to one a fragance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.
I found this:
WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR POT?
Don’t hide the cracks in the clay. That’s the only way to let out the fragrance. It is amazing how often God honors a weak, broken piece of pottery. How seldom he ever uses the fine china. The fact is, fine china usually does not like being used. It fears the idea of being broken.
God honors the weak, fragile, cracked pots. We are honored when he takes an old pot, cracks it and uses it for his glory.
What is that smell? What are you wearing? I walk through my congregation every sunday morning and I smell a sweet wholesome fragrance. I think of saints who have gone before us in terrible pain of suffering, and their lives have been a sweet smell of fragrance of God’s grace.
How is your pot? Are you huddling over it, as you try to protect it? Have you placed it on a shelf trying to guard it?
There is a better way. Take it off the shelf, and let God crack it with the everyday pressures of life. Let the LORD GOD take your life and let him use it to HIS glory, HIS way.
My own experience with God is that my pot has been cracked alot, but I can smell the sweet fragrance of Christ.
Wow, I think Anne and Joyce did a great job of answering this question so far!
Here is a great thought I found online, I am going to shorten it a bit though:
Sometimes we can be in a room and pick up fragrances or aromas on our clothes, our hair, and when we walk out we smell like the fragrance we were just around. Have you ever picked up the telephone after someone else has used it, someone who had on perfume?. You end up with that perfume smell on you. So it is with Jesus..”For we are the aroma of Christ to God..” To God we smell like Jesus..
The more time we spend with Jesus, the more we act like Him, talk like Him, love like Him..We have His aroma..
Acts 4:13: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”
Peter and John probably smelled like Jesus too.
Joyce and Rebecca, those are both great finds. Thanks. We can be glad for the cracks in our pots! I love to smell good!
Thanks to each of you for good thoughts!
“Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of one’s friend springs from his earnest counsel.” (Proverbs 27:9)
When I read this I think on my grandmothers. One loved rose scented things. I keep rose oil and it brings joy when I smell it. It brings comfort. My other grandmother used Dove soap. I have dove soap in my house and It brings comfort. I am now 50. I think on these women and how I wish I could be their friend. They have long left this earth. God has taken the sorrow of childhood and turned it into good.
An earnest friend is comfort. I am alone alot. And when I see my friend from a far….I rejoice. God is good. We can look back and see how he called us and how he used people to bring us to him. I am thankful.
I grew up in a small village. When I went off to college at 17 I was on the plane leaving the village and I saw my grandmother running to the plane. I had the pilot turn off the plane I got out. My grandmother put oil on my head and prayed over me. Th smell is there in my mind of love and God.
Barbara,those are wonderful memeories. Thanks for sharing them