~The Green Cottage~

Sipping my Super Irish Breakfast tea as Father and I type...

The woods had a fresh scent of wet sand and pine...I inhaled deeply taking it in...my dad was walking beside me but in reality he had been gone about 18 years. We talked quietly to each other as we approached the cottage.

Everything was green...the ferns and trees surrounding the place...the cottage itself was light green. We opened the screen door. It had a familiar squeak and slam. We stepped inside. We could still smell the fresh wet sand and pine fragrance now mixed with a closed up home smell. 

I never looked at my dad but I knew he was standing beside me. We looked at the barren (green inside too) cottage...there was no furniture...there were built in book shelves on the wall with no books...we went to the empty kitchen where there was nothing but empty countertops and an empty table...that formica table with the metal edge around it.

I inhaled again as I liked the scent of wet sand, fresh pine, and the closed in place.

We went back  to  the front room where I stared at the emptiness and enjoyed the presence of my dad.
"Where is everything?" I asked Dad. I had wondered since stepping inside but we had just been looking around quietly. "They don't need their things," was his response. 

Did anyone even live here? It looked abandoned. Empty with a pleasant scent. I wondered if whoever lived here at one time was no longer on this earth. My dad wasn't (on this earth) yet he was beside me for this empty green cottage tour. I felt him near. "They don't need their things," he had said.

Was this empty green cottage with greenery all around it supposed to tell me something? There were so many bookshelves that I imagined several books had once taken the space there. What kind of books? I imagined whomever  the reader was liked a variety...scholarly, novels, thin books, thick books...but nothing was needed now.

I was puzzled when Dad said they didn't need their things. The fresh scent took over as I began to think...we don't need our things. They won't go with us. People often talk about simplifying life...getting rid of things. OR is it THINGS we need to get rid of. Perhaps the things in the cottage were things we hang onto emotionally or mentally. We need to empty ourselves and give everything to God...our issues with people, our hurts, our unforgiveness, our worries...I could go on.

 The scent of the wet sand, pine, and closed in place took over and I closed my eyes to take it all in. Emptying yourself of issues in life, stresses, and all will allow for a newness...a freshness in your life. You will take in the aroma of Jesus and His love and compassion.

Dad was no longer by my side. I was in the empty cottage all alone. I understood leaving everything there. I looked around at the emptyness again, grinned, and opened the squeaky screen door and heard it slam as I stepped outside.

Inhaling the freshness, I realized I didn't need my "things" they just bogged me down and didn't  allow Joy, Peace, and Freedom in Jesus.

Inhale the aroma of Jesus! His freshness! Empty whatever needs to go from your life. Take in the newness!

Blessings!