The scent of this Nitty.Gritty. woman.

I guess I have a thing for pleasant aromas. I could smother myself in any of the fruity/tasty flavors of body products from the lines at Jaqua.com. Those girls that run that product line could be my friends- just because you know they would always smell good when you're around them. SO, I picked up some more maple syrup body scrub, and now I think I have enough on hand so that I'll smell yummy for at least the next 6-9 months.
My other Nitty.Gritty. thoughts for today are such that you may think I am revisiting old topics again. But, in church, our pastors have been doing a series all summer on 'Hope in the Hard Times'. The messages have been about suffering. I have been so in tune with the speakers, as the steps in my life have taken me down the road of suffering of which they speak. In fact, Chip and I will be sharing some of our thoughts and experiences in church for the last Sunday of the series coming up on August 27th.
Today I realized that it was only 5 short years ago that I went to church with such pain and injuries that I had to be in a wheelchair. Because of muscle, nerve and tissue damage to my legs and back, I was in that wheelchair for 6 weeks. It felt like forever at the time, and now I realize that I sometimes forget that part of my story. If you had told me that morning in church, that my heart would dance and sing again someday, and that my legs would too, I would have laughed at you. Actually, I probably would have cried. Everything in my life hurt so bad. I think I would have cried at the thought of ever being happy or caring about anything in the world again.
Here I am, once again, five years later, and I am happy at the simple thought of getting maple syrup body scrub in the mail this week. I am glad that I have determined to find simple happiness in life again. I am glad that I have been surrounded by people and opprtunities that have helped me heal the unimaginable hurt in my life.
I am beginning to realize that I have a very good quality in life that I never knew I had before- it's that of being resilient. Nobody told that all the years I was growing up. I don't ever remember getting birthday cards that said, 'To a little girl whose sweet as ever. Hope you know you're getting more resilient each year. Love Grandma and Grandpa'. None of my teachers ever typed it on my report card under the area for notes. They usually wrote, 'Uses time wisely, or consistently puts forth good effort.' I never saw resilient. Until now. I guess it's taken time and events to shape this character in me. I must say, I'm not sure if it has come from my family genes, my supportive husband, family and friends, or from God. Probably it is a cobination of all three.
Whatever it may be, I hope that it rubs off on the people I meet in life and that it leaves a pleasant 'aroma' with them for a long time.