Mindy Lee Hopman

I Don’t Want to Miss It

There is a pink rose garden in the middle of the campus where we live, and every time I walk by, I intentionally stop to smell the roses. In today’s fast-paced, full life, I find that if I do not make myself slow down, I miss the blessings God has placed right in front of me.

• It’s the gift of a phone call with someone who knows me so well the conversation picks up right where we left off, no matter how much time has passed.
• It’s the sweet belly laughs of small children, now grown into adults I love and genuinely like.
• It’s the time spent around the table where the best conversations occur between family and friends.
• It’s the traditions of love and gratitude that are no longer seasonal, but woven themselves into the fabric of our lives.
• It’s the recognition of the years of cultivation (hard work, dedication, and faith) that are now bearing fruit in many areas of our lives for my husband and myself in work and ministry.
• And most of all, it’s the people. The people God has placed in our lives in every season to do life with and draw us closer to Him.

The Goodness of God

Right before Jesus entered Jerusalem for the final time, he was having dinner at the home where Lazarus lived. While reclining at the table, Mary, overflowing with gratitude from noticing the goodness of God, took her expensive nard and anointed Jesus’ feet.

Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. John 12:3 (ESV)

Mary understood life is always about the people, most importantly, Jesus. She lived from a space of worship as she recognized who Jesus was and as her heart became overwhelmed by what Jesus had done for her it overflowed with gratitude.

Mary took her nard that would be used for the anointing of kings and also at the time of burial and was of great value and blessed the feet of Jesus. Then she wiped His feet with her hair. This sign of humility, reverence and honor was an outward display of what Mary’s heart understood – who He was and what He had done for her. The house was full of the scent of the beautiful nard, which had become the scent of Jesus. Days later, you would have smelled the King coming as he entered Jerusalem for the final time.

For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 2 Corinthians 2:15 (ESV)

The Fragrance of Christ

May we move through this season of Thanksgiving and enter into the season of Christmas noticing the goodness of God, like Mary. We don’t want to miss it.

May our hearts become overwhelmed by his goodness as we recognize him for who he is and what he has done for us, so that they overflow onto everyone we meet to become a sweet fragrance to those around us.

Sunday begins the season of Advent. The Middle English word advent means an arrival or approach – the Latin prefix ad meaning toward and ven meaning to come. To usher in the presence of the greatest gift, please join us in reading Faith Roots: Snapshots of the Big Picture (An Advent Family Devotional) available on Amazon.

Many Blessings to You and Yours,