Gui Hua

This week I learned the city flower of Hangzhou is Gui Hua.
O great choice! What is it? Sweet-scented osmanthus.
It is a small tree with hundreds of tiny cream colored flowers. Gui Hua smells wonderful. It just bloomed and is everywhere: in our apartment complex, at both the Clarcks and Hardins, at the bus stop, even the back street to the supermarket. The Gui Hua even overpowers the foul smells that come with 5 million close neighbors. We stick our noses right in a clump of flowers or stand back a few feet trying to find the most satisfying whiff. GaoYan says she will make rice balls with sundried GuiHua and sugar inside. Our windows are open at night because the aroma makes it up to our fourth floor apartment. I lie in bed thinking, "This is what life should smell like."
II Corinthinans 2:14-16 reminds and encourages us with the power of our aroma and fragrance leading our neighbors to know Him.