For a week now I have been following the 30-day Gratitude Challenge — its the one I emailed to all of you last Sabbath. One of the best ways to get your mind off what you’ve lost is to get it on what you’ve been given. So I’m trying to do that, and this week I’ve been thankful for a smell I love. Seriously — a smell! I have never thanked God before for how something smells, but it was number 6 on the list, so I’ve been thinking about odors. Of all the senses, smell is least understood by science. We’ve got artificial eyes, artificial ears — but we don’t know a lot about how smell even works, much less having any kind of mechanical nose! We know animals have highly developed olfactory systems — did you know that there are dogs that can diagnose prostate cancer in men with 80% accuracy simply by smelling a man’s urine? There is a doctor in England using a dog to detect Parkinson’s disease two years before the onset of symptoms just by smelling the person. So I’ve been thinking about smells. The wonderful aroma in my house when I walk in the door hungry and my favorite food’s cooking. The smell of the forest after a rain. At our small group Wednesday, David talked about the wonderful smell of a new baby. But my specific words of gratitude? “Thank you, Lord, for making lavender, and the way you designed it to smell. Its a wonderful treat you gave us, and on top of that, you let us live in this beautiful place where it grows so abundantly. You have done all things well, and I thank you.” And in a couple months, whether life is back to normal or not, the lavender will be in full bloom. Just another reminder that God is good. ” See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.” — Matthew 6:28