Flashbacks

This morning I smelled a disinfectant kind of smell and it immediately took me back more than 27 years to when Stacey had just been born. I associated that smell with her entrance into the world. I have to admit, it made me all warm and fuzzy inside. It was such an exciting happy journey. But life goes on and time certainly does not stand still. While this morning’s whiff was nostalgic, the other day, it was another scent that took me even further back in my life to when I was a young child – about 6. We lived at 236 Cheviot Road, Waterfalls, Salisbury, Rhodesia. Of course, it’s now Harare, Zimbabwe, but when I was 6, I was taught these details over and over again, until they were burned into my memory. We had a large front garden, with not so well kept lawn. Every Saturday, the 6 of us piled into our little old white VW Beetle. My Mom and Dad were in the front, my 2 brothers and sister were in the back and I, the youngest was in the ‘very back’, a little storage space behind the back seat.  Beetles have the engine at the back, so the boot is under the front bonnet.

I digress from my story for a moment – I want to confess something right now that may differ from my siblings. Because of my many journeys in the ‘very back’, right in front of the smelly fume filled engine, to this day, I DO NOT like VW Beetles. When I think of them, I can almost smell the exhaust fumes – I feel cramped and grimy.

Back to my story – so every Saturday, the 6 of us piled into our little old white VW Beetle and set off for the city library, where a number of hours were whiled away in book selection and reading. One Saturday, after this excursion, we came home to a very unexpected site – our large front lawn was burnt to a crisp! Somehow it had caught alight – perhaps a passer by tossed a cigarette stompie over the fence. It went up in flames and the neighbours called the fire brigade. They arrive, fire engine and all and put it out. The whole front lawn was black. It was an amazing sight for a 6 year old. The smell of burnt grass hung in the air for many days ahead. It was that smell that filled my nostrils as I walked to Clovelly golf course the other day. There was a small patch of land that had burned and the path I took went right through it…

As soon as the whiff of burnt grass  filtered up to me, I was transported back to the the crunchy front lawn of 236 Cheviot Rd. That’s the power of scent. It is amazing how we may take our sense of smell for granted, yet it can ignite in us a profound memory of a person or a place. As I walked on, I noticed strands of grass  sprouting up…

Amidst the ashes, new life was forming. Whenever I see this, it so reminds me of the new life we can have when we become followers of Jesus Christ. The old has passed – the new has come. He wants to replace the ashes with new life.

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

It’s such a vibrant picture. We can fall in step with Christ. He comes and fills us and directs our path and creates something beautiful of our lives.

Photo from Duncan Robson

Charred remains do not last.

Keep the smile going!

God bless you!

In His Grip,

Helga xx 🙂