Men and Kids Don't Buy Potpourri

Has anyone else noticed that women tend to be more odor-conscious than men or kids are?We seem to be the "perfumey" ones. For instance, I'm quite sure that I've never seen a man purchase potpourri. I don't think I've ever even heard a guy say the word "potpourri." I'm also pretty sure I could tell my kids that the word is Hebrew for "wombat" and they wouldn't know enough to argue.

While I still love sweet-smelling goodies, I worry a little now and then that the years have dulled my olfactory senses. Oh, the foul-smelling things I've sniffed; definitely not on the potpourri end of the scale. Without even mentioning diapers and other similar, none-too-fragrant disasters, I think I could probably send the toughest man and the most resilient child into a long-term wince.

I've been forced to sniff sweat socks that were so gross they actually adhered themselves to the shoes. Once it was so bad that when I tried to scrape them out of the tennies, I'm pretty sure one of them tried to bite me. I'm not doing any more socks without making sure all my immunizations are up-to-date.

Still, I don't think the socks were as bad as the pizza I found under my son's bed. It had been hiding there long enough to be granted squatter's rights. I've also found fruit way in the back of the fridge that looked like it needed a shave. And please excuse me for adding this, but you haven't fully experienced the full range of smells until one of your kids throws up in the sleeve of your favorite jacket- while you're wearing it.

I don't know how I would deal with it all if it weren't for girlfriends who understand. Okay, maybe they don't all completely understand, but at least they sympathize, or at the very least, patronize. I can live with that.

I took several girlfriends for a ride in my minivan awhile back. One of them hollered, "Is this a pickle back here in the cup holder?" I said, "Of course not. My kids don't eat pickles. It's probably just a hot dog from last baseball season." She thought she had it bad, but then the gal in the front seat tried to find my sunglasses for me. She opened that clever little sunglasses holder in the ceiling of my car and a fish stick fell out.

I think that's when I started worrying that my nose was becoming a little desensitized. After I pondered it a while, I decided that there really are worse things. Every once in a while, for instance, my heart gets a little desensitized. Now that really stinks.

Hearts are meant to stay sensitive to others and especially sensitive to what our Heavenly Father has in mind for us. Loving is a privilege we don't want to miss out on. It's an honor to celebrate each other's joys, to comfort each other in disappointments and even to sympathize with one another in every fish stick-type incident.

God offers each of us a sensitive, tender, brand new heart. He says in Ezekiel 36:26, "And I will give you a new heart- I will give you new and right desires- and put a new spirit within you. I will take out your stony hearts of sin and give you new hearts of love." (TLB)

I'm so glad He has the power to put a new, tender heart in the place of the old stinky, rocky one. He makes it oh-so-sweet-smelling!

Incidentally, I was trying to track down another one of those not-so-sweet smells the other day. I finally found it. It was a dead Ding Dong under a chair in the family room. Ah, the good die young. It was amazing how it sort of made its own little rock-hard coffin. Still, it was heartbreaking to have to throw away my favorite dessert. It's one thing to toss a fishstick, but this was chocolate! It's so sad when good chocolate goes bad.

Sadly, it had to be tossed. The stench was getting to me. I finally had to send my husband and kids out to buy some potpourri.

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Rhonda Rhea writes for dozens of Christian publications and speaks at conferences and events across the country. You can find her newest books, "Soup for the Soul-Tastes Just Like Chicken", and "Amusing Grace", at your local Christian bookstore. "Who Put the Cat in the Fridge-Serving Up Hope and Hilarity Family Style", will be available in March. Rhonda's husband, Richie Rhea, is a pastor in Troy, Missouri. You can reach them through her Web site.