My parents taught me to share so this page embraces that concept. Here is where you will be featured—either in submitted quotes, brief writings, or observations. Enjoy and participate! To submit: email [email protected].

Note that all submissions will receive a response but will be published depending upon content needs.

The Scent of Love

Paul, in Moffatt’s translation of the Bible, said, “We are a colony of heaven.” (Phil. 3:20). Just as the Philippians were proud to be an outpost of Rome, each local church today is an outpost of the kingdom of God, a colony of heaven, where we learn to walk in God’s story. . .Years ago an old evangelist gave me a right-brain picture of this invisible penetration of the world. He told about a small village in France where there was a perfume factory that made lavender fragrance. At five o’clock in the evening when the bell would ring and the factory day was over, the workers would all go home. And as they walked down their separate streets, the whole town would be permeated with the scent of lavender. In much the same way, when the people of God leave the church and go to our work and to our homes, the whole community should be permeated with the kind of love and caring we are absorbing from our life together in the church. The world will be permeated by the scent of love as move into its streets from our outposts of the kingdom.

Miller, Keith. The Scent of Love. Waco, TX: Word Publishing, 1983 [p 157].

Dedicated to Janet Mangas, my writing accountability partner who introduced me to writing for publication and lavender fields.

The Love Approach

“I am like an olive tree growing in God’s Temple.

I trust God’s love forever and ever.”

Psalm 52:8 (NCV)

One of the most creative ways to forgive I’ve ever seen came from a woman who wrote to me:

I have strengthened my prayer life by weeding my flowerbed. I used to have names on all the weeds and really would hoe, chop, and mutilate people who had frustrated me. Now my weeds are still named, but instead of chopping them, I gently pull them, pause, and pray for them. I call it “the love approach” instead of “the angry approach.” I also have added to my list those who need extra encouragement through prayer and not just my “hit list.”

– Barbara Johnson, submitted by Lorraine Richardson, another dear encourager.