Mmmmm. You smell good.

I was at a retreat up by Stevens Pass all weekend. Let me just say. Praise Jesus!

Ah. Maybe it's just what people call "camp high" but I feel stronger. Could be just because I watched The Gods Aren't Angry by Rob Bell for the third time. Could be because I got in a lot of devotions. Or that I got to lead awesome worship with my guitar.

But then I think of the conversation that I will think about every morning before I go off into the world. And how it started off with. "Mmmmm. You smell good."

We were up and out of the lodge around 11 and arrived at Stevens Pass no longer then ten minutes. (Thanks to Liz's lead foot.) Everyone is packing on their Snowboard/Ski gear while Carli, Lauren, and I blast The Rocket Summer's Cross My Heart. (We are lame and going to sit in the lodge all day. I say it's because it's all to costly, but really I'm just extremely uncoordinated and would kill myself.) So when everyone is ready and Kellan get's unstuck from the trunk of Cheryl’s truck, Lauren grabs her laptop complete with Horton Hears a Who, Nancy Drew, and every Hillsong DVD known to man, Carli grabs her ears, and I grab my guitar.

As if a blonde girl walking around with a guitar instead of a snowboard is not standing out from the crowd enough already. I am in jeans, a TWLOHA sweater, and penny loafers. Yes, penny loafers, in the snow, with no hat, and no snow jacket, just a guitar. Everyone was giving me very confused looks and one man asked me "What time I was playing." After Carli, Lauren, and I search every lodge for a place that is warm, has an outlet, and enough room for me sit comfortably with my guitar all over the lodge, preferably not smelling of feet and nachos, we find a more than ideal spot in the middle lodge.

Thank you again God. That was awesome.

Anyway. The day carried on with Nancy Drew, Vanilla Lattes, Hillsong United, notes from awkward little boys, and Erin and I finally finishing a song with the perfect bridge. So when we leaving, we were more than a bunch of girls. We were a bunch of smelly, sweaty ones. The ones who actually experienced the snow anyway.

Right before we gathered for small group I took a shower with Pantene Pro-V, which apparently has a certain effect on Molly's nose. We started talking about tithe, then on to womanism, to what we want in a man, to what we want to be for God, to smells.

I sometimes get asked the most talked about subject in teenage girls minds. "What is your favorite thing in a guy? What do you notice about them first?" For me... I love when I can see Jesus radiating off of them. I want a man of God first and foremost. It's more than just attractiveness. It's because I am so in love with Jesus Christ that when I meet someone who is passionate in their walk I can not get enough of the conversation. Being around someone, anyone, who radiates Jesus and wants to talk about Him like He's alive and sitting with us is intoxicating, some people even use words like, addictive.

Humans are sensory creatures. (Thank you Rob Bell.) We all thrive off of texture, sight, sounds, music, and smells. What makes men and women of God so addictive to other men and women of God? Could it be that we both know what God looks like? That we know what our God is all about? That we have all felt God work in our lives? That we've smelt Him? Some of you will find that last assumption odd. How can you smell Jesus?

Well thanks to a Podcast by Judah Smith, Carli took perfumes and smells to a whole new level.

What if God is a scent?

What if we are not only supposed to be a light in this world? That we are supposed intoxicate this world with the smell of Jesus? That we are supposed to walk by and infiltrate the noses of perfect strangers? That our Love for Jesus Christ is supposed to be addictive?

Think about this.

You have the scent of Grace on you. You have your own unique smell of Jesus that God has blessed you with. You may be thinking. Well is my scent strong? Is my scent different from other people? Is my scent good? Am I drawing people in with my scent? Has Hillary lost it?

All awesome questions. Explore them. I don't want to preach in this blog, or write a novel so I will just leave you with this.

Go out into the world every morning that you are blessed to live, and don't forget to put on Grace before you go.

You are more intoxicating than you think.