Dainty White

The sweetest aroma filled my senses this afternoon - trailing in on a breeze through my son's bedroom window. For a moment, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. It was the smell of home, the sweet scent of Star Jasmine.

This same breed of white flowers greeted me for years, standing brilliantly on the porch of the house I grew up in. From lazy Saturday afternoons playing with sidewalk chalk (back then it was still skinny and white) to my later years when a kiss good-night would end a date - that Star Jasmine stood tried and true, welcoming me through every stage of my young life.

This afternoon, I found myself on my face before the Lord, utterly emptied. Walking through weeks of darkness and discouragement, I prayed that God would replace my heart of stone with a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). I came to terms with the enormity of my lack, and embraced His gain.

A phone call brought me to my feet. My cousin Jodie, a true lifeline, spent an hour reminding me about all the wonderful things the wilderness has forced me to forget.

As we hung up, I felt my heart fill with a distant but familiar hope. And through the scent of God's dainty white flower, He began to chip away the rough edges, giving Joy the courage to head back home.