Stop and smell the roses

​What a busy time of the year it is. Kids and young adults returning to school usher in a time known as "fall." I don't know about you, but fall seems to go by so fast. Before we know it, football season is over, and basketball is taking the forefront of our local sports season.
 
 As the leaves turn beautiful shades of red, yellow, orange, and even dark green, it reminds me that we often don't see the seasons changing because we are so busy with everything we are involved in. There is an old saying I'm sure most of you have heard: "Stop and smell the roses."  Let me ask you this: with all that is happening in our world today, when was the last time you just stopped and smelled the bouquet of flowers (wild and/or at home) that seemed to fill the air with sweet aromas. At the end of the day, I can't help but stop at the garden just outside the back doors. I pray, of course, while I'm there. With my eyes closed, I can understand why the gardens in Jerusalem in Jesus' day and even today are such popular places. If you listen closely, you can hear our Heavenly Father's still, small voice calling your name. 
 
I remember the First time I heard "In the Garden" as a child. It wasn't some well-known singer who sang it the first time. It wasn't in the church I grew up in, either. It was a little old lady who lived down the street from my grandparent's house in Plainville, Connecticut. She was sitting on her front porch, like most people did in the late 80's, as I rode by on my bike. She wasn't singing too loud, but I could still hear her. I asked my grandmother about it when I returned to my grandparent's house. She looked at me and smiled as she softly sang it to me in the living room. I sat next to her chair on the floor. From that moment on, I fell in love with that hymn. It is one of my all-time favorite hymns to sing, and I even sit and listen to it. 
 
Do you know who wrote it? His name is Austin Miles. He wrote the hymn from 1912 to 1913. There's a beautiful story behind his writing, and I look forward to sharing it with you all on September 29th in worship service. But here is a little bit of it to hold you over till then. 
 
Austin Miles was a pharmacist who served as editor and manager at Hall-Mark Publishers. His great-granddaughter said he told her how he wrote this beautiful hymn in a cold, dreary, and leaky basement in his home in Pitman, New Jersey. He speaks of how he was in that place as he usually was when reading his beloved Bible. He was reading the Book of John Chapter 20 when he came to verses 11-18.
 
Before he could even think, the picture of that text came to life. He could see Mary standing there in the early morning. He could see how she interacted with Christ, not knowing it was him at first.  He could see the smile on her face and the joy in her eyes as she ran back to tell the disciples what had happened and what she had seen. He wrote that hymn that day, and many still sing it. I can't tell you how many times it has helped me remember who I am. A beloved child of the highest God.
 
We all need that reminder from time to time, don't we? So let's do this, stop and smell the roses. Look for a quiet place outdoors where we can go and be in the beauty of God's creation.  Read your Bible there, sing a few hymns if you like, and listen because God is still calling and wants to walk with you, talk with you, and make sure you know you are his own. He wants to share the joy he has as you are both there, in this place where no other has ever known.