Fragrances can take us back to wondrous memories from our most remote childhood.  A baby’s smell of mother can bond them to her forever.  A perfume or aftershave your mother, father or lover wore is often remembered long after that person is out of your life.

 Let me get back to the scent of evergreens and why they affect me so strongly.  As a child my mother would send us to a Christian summer camp, Camp Linhaven in Linville, NC owned by the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church.  Located in the heart of the NC mountains, pines, junipers and other evergreens were abundant. Those memories, of being at camp, singing “The Old Rugged Cross” and discovering what wildflowers were around, are my fondest of childhood.  Of course, I also remember fondly creating forts from cast off Christmas trees of the neighborhood. Even in coldest, winter I’d go down to my fort, surrounded by the scent of evergreens, and be alone with God. I didn’t know it was God calling me then; it was simply heaven on earth for me. Now, each Christmas, I have evergreen oils in my home to remind me of how blessed I am to know Christ and be alive to tell about it after such an incredibly difficult life.

In 1996 I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis and several other diseases.  At the time I was still married in a horrid relationship. After twenty-five years of “giving him another chance” I finally obtained a divorce only to find myself penniless and locating another home with an angry minor child. Already in my late forties, I had established no career.  Even with the BSHE (Bachelor of Science in Home Economics) I’d obtained through working odd jobs and using scholarships, I was not considered employable. In 2007, due to a terrible sequence of falls, I could no longer function on a high level and had to take two companies bankrupt.  There’s much more but suffice to say, there has not been one easy year in my life, no hiatus in childhood from neglect or abuse and few happy memories. Even so, I have people tell me today that I am among the happiest people they know.  This is because I am able to listen to the dream God gave me ten years ago when I was told I would have my own mountain to preserve and protect, with a healing center for myself and others. My friends are Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Moslem, Jain, Atheist and Agnostic so knowing I have overcome obstacles with the help of Christ makes me a great missionary for Him.