Apparently I have a big nose. Ive never really thought of as big - TopicsExpress

Apparently I have a big nose. Ive never really thought of as big since seventh grade when we had to measure our noses using the metric system since everything in the United States was going to be metric in the near future. Well, the near future has come and gone and I am still waiting for this country to go to the metric system but I will have to be taught all those meters and grams all over again. Anyway, I had the second largest nose in the class which I thought was strange at the time since I was the second shortest kid in the seventh grade at a big school like Ft. Zumwalt (not a military school, it was named after a no longer existing fort that was once located in the aptly named Ft. Zumwalt Park). Luckily for me, my body grew at a much different rate than my nose and I feel like it is no longer so prominent on my head as it once was. I guess it is still considered large, though. I will admit that when I see photos of me from the side that show off my profile the first thing I notice is the nose even though my ears seem to be going through a growth spurt. I saw a TV show the other day where a guy didnt have a nose and that is far less attractive than a nose that is a tad too big. I guess he had to wear contacts. I have problems with contacts so I am glad I at least have a good place for my glasses to sit. Ive never thought of changing this nose like a lot of people that go to the doctor for plastic surgery. It has gone through changes though. It has been smashed on a toolbox and a few guys have found it an easy target for their fists. It has been broken and bloodied but it is relatively straight. I kind of like it. I might as well like it. It has functioned through the years even though a lot of the body it is connected to hasnt. It isnt overly sensitive and I dont gag and moan when we pass a dead skunk along the road like the rest of the people that are riding with me. I still, though, enjoy the aromas of a pot of coffee or a campfire or of course, one of the grandest smells of all, bacon frying on the stove with biscuits in the oven. Seldom will my nose lead me astray. If Im not sure about that milk in the fridge, Ill sniff it and if it passes the nose test, Ill pour a glass. Ive yet to pour a curdled cup of rotten milk if I do this. If that leftover is a little funny smelling, I toss it into the trash. There is even the old saying, “Follow your nose”. I dont know what God looks like exactly but I expect him to have a nose and not a little dainty one but Im sure it is a handsome one. Ephesians 5:2 Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. When I first came to Christ I lived a life filled with self-love and self-loathing. There was a conflict going on inside me that reeked. God didnt care. He took me as I was even though I needed a thorough cleaning and some medical attention to remove the rot of this world that I carried around everywhere I went. Sadly for me, I lived a life with more love but my sacrifices to God all still stunk. For some reason I wanted to wear the same old dirty clothes and wallow in the same old manure pile. I wanted God to clean the smell from the places I wanted to go and not change in order to be a pure and holy sacrifice to him. Sacrifice was merely a word. I was like Cain offering what I had plenty of, disobedient to Gods desires and sinning more in order to justify my obedience. My sacrifices stank and God tossed them back to me. He was telling me what he wanted but I refused. Today I want things to be different. Often what God wants to give me, what I need, is not what I want. Thats doesnt mean that it isnt what I need. When I cling to my selfishness and offer God the refuse of a disobedient life, God has no choice but to refuse the refuse. He is consistent and steady where I am wavering. Many times when life is hard I simply have to obey in one more little area to make things better. Looking back, I cant tell you of a single time this didnt work. Looking forward, sometimes it appears that logic and rational thinking tell me that this God thing is nuts. I have to establish a track record with God by being obedient and living a life filled with love and put my faith in that record day after day. On this day I want God to feel like Ive put on a pot of coffee and Im cooking up a plate of bacon and biscuits over an open fire and it is coming his way. He gives me so much more than those small things I have to offer. Im not trying to make God rich, he is showing me how to be rich. A life filled with love is a tall order. Its a one day at a time kind of thing so heres a prayer for today and living it with a sweet aroma pleasing to God.