When The Stink Is No One’s Fault But Your Own…

I can’t stand when things stink!  My home, my car and my office need to have a pleasant aroma, so I spend time and money, making sure that what I smell in any of those places is pleasant, for the most part.  There is always the occasional fish dinner or Brussel sprouts in my home,  there just is not much you can do with that kind of stink!  I just embrace it and know it will pass, like so many other things in life.   I love that many have told me over the years your house always smells so good.  It is just one of those warm fuzzy feelings.  In the summer you have the smell of something tropical, in the fall everything pumpkin, at Christmas cinnamon, in the early winter months, birthday cake or vanilla and so on.  As you can see there is a nice dessert theme going on as I do love a good dessert.  So about 3 weeks ago I got a new air freshener for my car.  Around the end of July my car hauled kids to and from camp and the smell, well, it hasn’t been the same since it is a cross between rotting food and really smelly socks.  Yes, I have thoroughly checked the car and neither of those items was left behind.  A week or two after the camp run I finally remembered to pick up a new air freshener.  It is Strawberry on one side and lemonade on the other.  Yum!  Well, me being the type that does not always reads the directions, sorry mom, could not figure out why my car continued with the stink!  I would flip the little lever back and forth, unhook it from the vent and stick it to my nose for a big whiff and nothing!  I thought about getting my 2.84 cents back but I had thrown the package away.  It has continued to stay in my vent doing absolutely nothing for 3 full weeks!  Every day when I get in I am hoping it has kicked in, it reminds me of the definition of insanity.  Doing the exact same thing and expecting different results.

Fast forward now to today, I made my once every 4-6 month trip to Walmart, yes, I am serious, I cannot stand Walmart so I generally avoid it at all cost.  Today, I was feeling brave and confident that I could tackle Walmart so I did.  As I was shopping I remembered my irritating car freshener and decided to go get a new one, I had given the current one plenty of times to perform and it had failed.  I ventured to the isle that had pull back lids, ones that hang from your mirror and ones you stick in your vents like little sticks and then there right in front of me was the stupid one I had purchased weeks before at another store that had miserably failed!  I suddenly had the urge to pick it off the shelf as if buying another one of the exact same one could be the answer, perhaps mine was defective?  I had it in my hand and I flip it over to the back and look at that there are directions!  In reading the directions I made a determination that allowing the stink to stay was my own fault!  I did not cause the stink in my car but allowing it to linger so many weeks, that was all on me.  The directions show how you are supposed to pop off the lid, unscrew the little caps on each little bottle and put the lid back on and clip to the vent. That easy, problem solved.  I feel confident that when I get in my car tomorrow it is going to smell like Strawberry Lemonade.

My lesson in all of this you ask, besides the fact I should have listened to my mom all these years and read the directions!  My lesson was I may not be responsible for all the stinky stuff in my life but if I allow it to stay and just keep putting up with it that is no one’s fault but my own.  I have to have a daily renewing of my mind.  I have to clear out the thoughts that stink, I have to fill them with the sweet aroma of Jesus!  I have to take my own thoughts captive and allow Jesus to work in and through me.  Psalm 139:23  God, examine me and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  The other thing to remember is that God’s word is the directions, so if we don’t take time to read them then we are the ones that will suffer the consequences!  There are lots of directions in the word about stinky stuff in life, make time to read it.  For those close to me that may be wondering how I fared from my Walmart run today, well maybe it was because I wasn’t having my own stinky attitude but it was a very pleasant experience! Gotta run now, going to go get this air freshener in my car.

Until Next Time…