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Greetings everyone,
We have a few praise reports this past week.
Harry has been promoted from Lieutenant Junior Grade to a full Lieutenant. Another milestone achieved for his Navy career. It is an honor to be able to stay in the Navy and serve God and country. Also, it seems a little odd for a (near) 40 year old man to still be a LTJG. So we are thankful this week for Harry's promotion. (I understand it is a pay increase as well)
We have a few praise reports this past week.
Harry has been promoted from Lieutenant Junior Grade to a full Lieutenant. Another milestone achieved for his Navy career. It is an honor to be able to stay in the Navy and serve God and country. Also, it seems a little odd for a (near) 40 year old man to still be a LTJG. So we are thankful this week for Harry's promotion. (I understand it is a pay increase as well)
We have pictures, but not the permission to post them just yet.... so I will insert them hopefully, first of next week!
For my praise report..... we now have Gain laundry detergent in our NEX mini-mart! So to all of those who have sent care packages containing Gain in powder form.... thank you! I walked in the NEX....and saw a bright sign indicating "New Item". And there before my eyes sat Gain liquid laundry detergent. I have expressed before how I do not like change.... My clothes, our clothes have smelled of Gain for over 10 years. Good ole' regular Gain. Not the Spring Time Fresh. Nor the Joyful Expressions, even though Gain is a joy to have. Anything other than Gain and I feel like we stink. Yes I understand it is weird...but there is nothing like the familiar smell. "The irresistible fresh scent," as the label reads.
First, the Navy sends an express shipment. Which means, 1000 lbs of household goods, clothes, towels, linens, etc., arrived within the first 6 weeks here in Greece. Next comes the larger shipment. It's everything else we decided to send (which was not much) was to arrive within 3 months. Of course, Greece being Greece, the shipment arrived in 4 1/2 months.
I still remember the day we received our boxes. The excitement and anticipation of what was inside. It was like Christmas. And it had been so long... we had forgot what we had sent....so it really was like opening presents....with no clue what was in them.
Box after box. Item after item. Little pieces of home revealed with the opening of each new box. Opened in efforts of making the "new" home feel the essence of our former residence. Dishes arrived (in one piece thank God), dishes we had acquired as wedding gifts. Knickknacks from around the world symbolizing our travels. Vacations, anniversaries, and birthday memories materializing before our eyes. Little tokens that transitioned the old us with our new Navy us.
Oh, just the sight of these few small things brought a sense of self. The Hansen's from 4686 IvyGate Circle still exist beyond IvyGate Circle. And the smell. I still remember the smell of home. The smell of our kitchen and its Grapefruit scent. The bedrooms smelling of Clean Linen. Blackberry Vanilla for the family room and office. The bathrooms smell of Fresh Spa. Every room in the house had it's distinct smell. Once it began it fade, new oil fresheners replaced the old.
I dared not change the smell, that is until Bath and Body Works or Glade decided to discontinue the fragrance. Causing me to shop the B&B Works outlet store and buy everything they had left on their shelves.
But there is nothing that compares to the smell of fresh laundry washed in Gain. When we were opening the boxes and came across the remaining clothes and linen... the smell of Gain was overwhelming. I was amazed that "our" smell could last 4 1/2 months in a wooden crate, shipped from IvyGate circle, to a storehouse on truck, then to a port and loaded on a ship for the remaining journey. How had the smell remained?
It did not matter! I loved it. I held each piece up to me nose just to inhale the "irresistible fresh scent." Each piece. Well, maybe not the undies and Harry's socks, so almost every piece. Even Oliver, the cat, smelled everything. Purring and rubbing his head on all the boxes. Box after box, Oliver rubbed first his jaws then proceeded to do the "drive by". Starts with his face then lets his whole entire body rub the items ending with his backside. The vet said it's his version of marking his territory. So if the cat recognized and enjoyed the smell... surely I was not crazy! I just wanted our old things to mark the territory of our new residence.
Though I needed to wash everything, I could not bring myself to wash a single piece of clothing or linen. I feared washing away our scent. Washing away the little piece of home left in our belongings. So I unpacked everything. Clothes in the drawers and comforters on the beds.
Within minutes Oliver was on the bed rubbing his head and rolling around and around on the comforter. He too was trying to recapture his scent. I looked at him. Intrigued by his persistence. Thought about rolling around myself, but decided against the idea..... it had taken me 30 minutes to get the bed skirt, fitted and flat sheet, comforter, pillow cases, shams, and European shams just so. Again, I like clean lines and perfectly ironed sheets.
I know in the scale of important things in life...these items fall way short. However, the more I adorned our new Greek house with the things from our old house the more I restored a feeling of peace within. A peace and comfort settled inside me. The feelings of isolation and abandonment seemed to dissipate just a little. Our pictures of friends and family brought back the feelings or love and acceptance. The various books reminded me of everything. Travel books....the vacations with family and friends. Christian books....the times at conferences and on mission trips. Furniture pieces handed down from family members. All items bringing with them a sweet smell of remembrance. A breath of times when things were different. The household goods were bringing life in to this skeleton of a house.
First, the Navy sends an express shipment. Which means, 1000 lbs of household goods, clothes, towels, linens, etc., arrived within the first 6 weeks here in Greece. Next comes the larger shipment. It's everything else we decided to send (which was not much) was to arrive within 3 months. Of course, Greece being Greece, the shipment arrived in 4 1/2 months.
I still remember the day we received our boxes. The excitement and anticipation of what was inside. It was like Christmas. And it had been so long... we had forgot what we had sent....so it really was like opening presents....with no clue what was in them.
Box after box. Item after item. Little pieces of home revealed with the opening of each new box. Opened in efforts of making the "new" home feel the essence of our former residence. Dishes arrived (in one piece thank God), dishes we had acquired as wedding gifts. Knickknacks from around the world symbolizing our travels. Vacations, anniversaries, and birthday memories materializing before our eyes. Little tokens that transitioned the old us with our new Navy us.
Oh, just the sight of these few small things brought a sense of self. The Hansen's from 4686 IvyGate Circle still exist beyond IvyGate Circle. And the smell. I still remember the smell of home. The smell of our kitchen and its Grapefruit scent. The bedrooms smelling of Clean Linen. Blackberry Vanilla for the family room and office. The bathrooms smell of Fresh Spa. Every room in the house had it's distinct smell. Once it began it fade, new oil fresheners replaced the old.
I dared not change the smell, that is until Bath and Body Works or Glade decided to discontinue the fragrance. Causing me to shop the B&B Works outlet store and buy everything they had left on their shelves.
But there is nothing that compares to the smell of fresh laundry washed in Gain. When we were opening the boxes and came across the remaining clothes and linen... the smell of Gain was overwhelming. I was amazed that "our" smell could last 4 1/2 months in a wooden crate, shipped from IvyGate circle, to a storehouse on truck, then to a port and loaded on a ship for the remaining journey. How had the smell remained?
It did not matter! I loved it. I held each piece up to me nose just to inhale the "irresistible fresh scent." Each piece. Well, maybe not the undies and Harry's socks, so almost every piece. Even Oliver, the cat, smelled everything. Purring and rubbing his head on all the boxes. Box after box, Oliver rubbed first his jaws then proceeded to do the "drive by". Starts with his face then lets his whole entire body rub the items ending with his backside. The vet said it's his version of marking his territory. So if the cat recognized and enjoyed the smell... surely I was not crazy! I just wanted our old things to mark the territory of our new residence.
Though I needed to wash everything, I could not bring myself to wash a single piece of clothing or linen. I feared washing away our scent. Washing away the little piece of home left in our belongings. So I unpacked everything. Clothes in the drawers and comforters on the beds.
Within minutes Oliver was on the bed rubbing his head and rolling around and around on the comforter. He too was trying to recapture his scent. I looked at him. Intrigued by his persistence. Thought about rolling around myself, but decided against the idea..... it had taken me 30 minutes to get the bed skirt, fitted and flat sheet, comforter, pillow cases, shams, and European shams just so. Again, I like clean lines and perfectly ironed sheets.
I know in the scale of important things in life...these items fall way short. However, the more I adorned our new Greek house with the things from our old house the more I restored a feeling of peace within. A peace and comfort settled inside me. The feelings of isolation and abandonment seemed to dissipate just a little. Our pictures of friends and family brought back the feelings or love and acceptance. The various books reminded me of everything. Travel books....the vacations with family and friends. Christian books....the times at conferences and on mission trips. Furniture pieces handed down from family members. All items bringing with them a sweet smell of remembrance. A breath of times when things were different. The household goods were bringing life in to this skeleton of a house.
It reminded me of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel, a prophet carried into Babylonian exile, wrote of the God's judgment, sovereignty, and hope for the future of God's people. Ezekiel in chapter 37 describes a vision . It called The Valley of Dry Bones. It's a description of the lifelessness of the house of Israel. And how once God breathes life into the bones it created a vast army.
Ezekiel, a prophet carried into Babylonian exile, wrote of the God's judgment, sovereignty, and hope for the future of God's people. Ezekiel in chapter 37 describes a vision . It called The Valley of Dry Bones. It's a description of the lifelessness of the house of Israel. And how once God breathes life into the bones it created a vast army.
"...I will make breath enter you,
and you will come to life.
Then you will know
that I am the Lord."
Ezekiel 37:6 (NIV)
You see, our stay in Greece at this point felt dry. Spiritual dry. Isolated from not only family and fiends, but God as well. With our days and weeks consumed with this new ministry, I unknowingly allowed my bones to become decrepit and weak. I allowed the loneliness of Greece to feel like exile. Myself being exiled and forsaken on this deserted island in the middle of nowhere. Feeling isolated and allowing those feelings to deaden my spirit, my breath of life.
I allowed a spiritual death to creep into my frail and brittle bones. A slow agonizing deterioration that could have led to destruction. I allowed people here on the island to tell me, “You have to give it 6 months, then you will call this place home.” Yet, calling this place home was not my problem. I consumed myself with too many chores and did not stop to ask for the fresh breath of anointment.
We become so busy with life. Running to and fro. Forgetting the important things of life and filling your days with empty errands. Trying to satisfy of lives with the redundancy of day-to-day activities that we forget we the need of renewal from the Holy Spirit.
We become so busy with life. Running to and fro. Forgetting the important things of life and filling your days with empty errands. Trying to satisfy of lives with the redundancy of day-to-day activities that we forget we the need of renewal from the Holy Spirit.
An inhale of the sweet fragrance from the Father.
The Gain from our laundry caused a renewal, an awaking from our days at IvyGate Circle. A scent of things familiar. These items gave a sense of comfort to our ever increasing desire for the security of home. Gain brought joy and peace to a restless household.
Like the Gain, our lives need the same intake, the breath of Life from the Father. The breath that restores lives and changes attitudes. The breath that rejuvenates the soul from frail and weak to healthy and strong.
A fresh inhale from the Spirit causes great things to happen for Him when you exhale. So today, I pray for constant breath from the Father. To inhale His sweet fragrance of life we to often take for granted. I pray we do not get so busy with our life that we forget to allow God to breath new life into us.
Inhale His greatness. And exhale His love to others.
Blessings until next time,
Kristie
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