The Scent of a Memory

So the past six weeks for our family have been rough, but there have also been many gems of blessings along the road.  God graciously showers His love on us even in the valleys of life.  Because of my nausea from growing my precious baby, I discovered using essential oils for the health of our entire family.  I was so excited about the results that I had for myself that I ordered a starter kit of basic oils to use for all of us.

The day the package arrived in the mail was perfect timing.  Elie arrived home from preschool with a fever and neon green mucus oozing from her nose.  Those of you who know me well know that I do not do well with snot.  I can clean up intestinal messes all day long and watch for hours during a surgery, but the respiratory stuff gags me on a normal day.  This was always  my Achilles heal working at the hospital.  So I was anxious to get the green stopped and to experiment with my new box of goodies.

The oils really did help Elie tremendously healthwise, but they also gave us another gift.

Smell is a powerful sense.  So many smells are wrapped around memories in our brain.  You can smell something and all the sudden be transported to another place and time.  One of the oils that I was given for my nausea is Ginger.  The moment I opened the cap I was suddenly a little girl standing in an old church in Europe watching the sun shine through an old stain glass window.  It is a beautiful memory that lead me down a journey of all the wonderful adventures I had as a child growing up in Germany.

As I started to rub the oil on Elie to help her breathe, as smile came across her face and her entire being relaxed.  She then started to tell all sorts of stories from her childhood in China.  Stories that we had never heard before.  It was a beautiful gift.  A gift provided by the scent of an old memory.