The Aroma of Christ

We are thrilled to have Kristin Shockley pouring today!

“I want to be like you, Mama.” She says this as I loop her apron strings into a bow around her waist. She fingers my apron and beams. “Now we look alike.” She turns to look up at me with the clear blue eyes like her Daddy’s. Minus her rounded nose and flowing hair, she looks far more like her Daddy than me, but our matching red apple aprons and this rare time alone in the kitchen is enough for her.

Sometimes I think I should be more like her, she whose every move is exacted slowly, carefully. Carefully, she chooses a dress from her closet. Carefully, she folds her nightgown and returns it to its place. Carefully, she brushes each tooth. Carefully, she glides her pencil across the page of her alphabet book. Carefully, she folds the napkins into triangles for meals. She is never in hurry, but she never hesitates to stand up for truth! Me? I scurry through my days but freeze amidst confrontation.

“Mama, when I grow up, I want to take care of my babies like you do.” She licks a bit of sugar off her fingertip and smiles at the baby brother who crawled in from the living room and is at her feet clanging pots out of the cabinet.

I have a lot to learn from her, she who holds her doll in one arm while she pours chocolate chips into the dough. She hums and mixes and rocks her darling. Somehow my grumbles that it is harder this way—harder to stir and hold a needy baby—have gone unnoticed by my girl who wishes to be just like me.

We glimpse a flash of red outside the window. “Mama, when I grow up, can I be a bird watcher and a mama?” I assure her that even mamas are not too busy to notice God’s creation. “Good,” she says. “Because I really want to be a mama, but I like to watch birds, too.”

What a balm she is to my soul, this little one so devoted to her dream to be like me. And so devoted to the idea that motherhood is a calling worth striving for.

Brian ambles into kitchen to steal a warm cookie and a kiss. “I caught you!” she teases, wagging her finger and squeezing in between us “When I get married, I’m going to leave you and live with my husband,” she says, a mixture of warning and sadness in her voice.

I hug her, willing her to stay with me a few years longer. And until then, I live to be the aroma of Christ.

“Godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come…and for this we labor and strive.” (1 Timothy 4:8, 10)

Kristin has been married to Brian, her best friend, confidant, and inspiration, for eight years and has four children who are continually teaching her in the little moments. You can visit her at http://from-my-life.blogspot.com.

image courtesy of M. Harper

Lori MacMath

Lori's daily mantra includes praying, "I will take it Lord, ALL you have to give," and a commitment to live out Colossians 3:17 daily. It's her prayer that the energy that fills her spirit be with her till her dying breath! She lives in the Deep South with her husband of 21 years and her 3 children, where she seeks daily to be creative and use the gifts the Lord has given her. With the heart of an artist and a spirit to live intentionally missional, Lori strives daily to see Him in all that surrounds her. Encouraging women on their daily walk with the Lord is her passion! She attends Vintage 242 church where she is active in women's and children's ministries. Lori can be found daily at her own personal website, "All You Have to Give." http://www.allyouhavetogive.com

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