I Smelled Africa
I smelled Africa tonight. I was driving through Washington in an old, boxy van with a pleasantly rumbly engine. I was just thinking how much like a choppa it was (minus a lot of extra passengers), when that smell wafted in through the windows. In my mind, the smell was linked to somewhere in Africa. I couldn't quite remember where (still can't), but a long, long chain of good memories was attached to it. It wasn't a particularly good odor, but I leaned back, closed my eyes, and drank it in like the finest perfume. In a way, it was perfume - perfume for my soul. I suppose God works through smells the same as He does through anything else. When I scented my 'Africa smell', a big weight of uncertainty and discouragement lifted off of my heart. I felt immediately more peaceful than I had in...how long? I think that smell was God's way of renewing my hope, courage, and trust. It was His way of saying, "You're as much My child here as you were there. Do