TORN AND TATTERED!

Torn and Tattered. The way I feel some days!

Once belonging to F. Heron. Purchased by me in 1998(?) in Harley, England near Gatwick Airport. Diane A., JoLynn H. Pam Higg, and I were staying at Kevin's B&B near the antique shop. 

Reason for purchasing....Psalms prayers, Hymns of old & pictures similar the ones in Mama Davenport's KJV Bible.

I appreciated the wealth of wisdom therein.

 

God guides me with His counsel (wisdom TLB, wise advice, NIRV)....for me it is good to be near God; 

(Psalm 73:24a & 28:a)

Never torn and tattered but fresh and new each day.

GRACIOUS ME!

Gracious Me!

Goodness Gracious!! 

Gracious Sakes...or gracious sakes alive!

All phrases I heard while growing up in western Kentucky. 

Such phrases were indicative of surprise. "Where has the day gone."

These days I find myself saying those same phrases I heard, especially from my grandmother, Mama Davenport. Often I add "Oh my" to the list. It's surprise with a bit of negativity laced with disappointment. Think, guilt.

Oh my, I can't keep up with ANYTHING. OK, that's an exaggeration but.....iPhone, Laptop, books, white out, things I use often and need to keep up with around the house.

Oh my, notes, are all over the house except the one I need.

Oh my, these days it takes me longer to do less.

Oh my, guilt hangs in my closet far too easy for me to reach & put on. (I know this because a sweet friend in the faith admonished me, in love of this very act,) 

How grateful I am that God's word says, 

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1)

Gracious me.....how grateful I am for that reminder! I'm pouring my cuppa guilt-TEA down the drain.

"B" IS FOR.....

Which words have you heard most  during this coronavirus pandemic season----Boring, Bored and Boredom come to mind, as parts of speech which emphasize one's prevailing mood.
Bedraggled liked last week's roses? Mama Davenport would have made potpourri sachet from the petals to freshen her "intimates drawer".

My grandmother never thought it behooved one's spirit to bemoan present experiences.....she saw even good in scraggly roses.

Hm-m--m....words for musing, not bemusing.

Why am I baffled at the disparity in the way I saw life and the way she viewed it? She viewed all of life through a lens of worship and gratitude, not with a bewildering questioning "why me? " attitude. ...not just in a quick burst when good things came her way...but even struggles could become a bounty of blessings for all to see as she waited for God to show His hand & His plan.

The Lord was always her banner and her shield, regardless of life's struggles. He bestowed favor and honor on Mama Davenport because her walk never wavered---it was blameless and the Lord blessed her bountifully. (Psalm 84:11)

What "Bs" are reflected in your life?

PSALM 100 SERVED WITH A CUPPA

 Psalm 100.

A psalm I had memorized in 4th grade as part of Mrs. Munday's scripture memory assignment. Morningside Elementary School. Ah-h those were the days of prayer in public school. To this day, she remains as one of my all time favorite teachers* and this psalm in the King James translation remains in my heart.

Mama Davenport's Bible, KJV, July 1945

However, today's All to Jesus entry gave me new insight into this memory-evoking psalm.

Author Robert Morgan states that stanza 1 (vv. 1-3) are devoted to gladitude as we "shout to the Lord and serve Him with gladness." Stanza 2 (vv. 4-5) is about gratitude as one enters the His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise

That's why a cuppa spiritual at-TEA-tude this morning to start my day in His Presence---a rich blend of glad-TEA-tude & gra-TEA-tude!

*I still keep the note which she wrote to me in 2009 when I was going through my cancer treatments/surgeries.

Botanical Heritage

This time of year I tend to reflect on the "gift" that keeps on giving. A "pass it on gifting" which I have continued with family and extended to friends.

The beauty of my old-timey snowball bush takes me back. Back to the "heritage" books of Margaret Louise Hooper, "my" Mama Davenport, who brought a snowball bush with her when she left the Hooper homeplace between Guthrie, Ky & Hampton Station, TN, (memory blurs exact location). It took root in her own yard on the Davenport property/farm in Montgomery, TN---a part of Hampton Station community. From there a cutting was taken to South Second Street in Clarksville, TN---not far from Davenport's Grocery on Commerce St. at 3rd, as I recall.

From there, a cutting went back to Kentucky to Mother and Daddy's house at 2211 South Virginia. A new cutting was started the year each of my brothers and I were born. A cutting from my bush came to Memphis with  me and I plan to keep sharing it when each of my kids have a place to grow it. Meanwhile, friends and neighbors share a part of my botanical heritage.

Thought Provoking

7/1/13 Thought provoking---that's what words are. Only man has the language of words. Words used in conversation must be delivered carefully. Even more care must be taken with the written word. Written words can take on a life of their own as we have seen recently in the news of exposed tweets and leaked emails. 

Words, spoken or written, have tremendous power. Words are not the problem---the problem comes from the one who speaks them or the one holds the pen that writes or the keyboard that types them.

Words can slander, shame, destroy and shatter. But God .....shows us that Words can also edify, comfort, and give hope.

When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, But he who restrains his lips is wise. (Proverbs10:19)

Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit. (Proverbs 15:4, NLT)

Words can bring death or life! (Proverbs 18:21) My marginalia--"Talk too much and you will end up eating everything you say."

Words wield power. 

Mama Davenport's Bible. I have never known anyone more godly than my grandmother, Mama. This soft spoken woman had  a vast vocabulary that only included words of kindness and encouragement. His Word greatly influenced her words.

Today on Meditation Monday, use God's Word to provoke thoughts about the implications of word choices.

Mama………….

7/28/10 ………..that’s all the name she went by when I was growing up. At least it’s what my family all called her, even Daddy, though she was his mother-in-law. Margaret Louise Hooper Davenport would have been 105 ten days ago. I know that because it was Sunday, July 18, and Molly was in the beach house researching her family tree at ancestory.com. She did “dig up” lots of interesting data. A 1930 census showed the ages of everyone in the “farm” household. Aunt Cora Mae Hooper, age 21, was living with them at the time. She even found a copy of my granddaddy’s signed WWI draft card. Dang Dang was 5 years older than she. They married when she was only 14. He was a tall, strapping corker and she was diminutive with a quiet, gentle spirit.

That info wasn’t on ancestory.com but I know it to be true. Compiled data can only give us so much information. That in itself is fascinating. But the real stories come from the hearts of those who know and remember their loved ones.

For sure, Mama was a loved one, especially by me. She was my spiritual mentor---though neither one of us had ever hear of that term. Nowadays it’s described as one mature Christian sharing his life with another in a one-on-one relational experience. The mentor invests, his God-given wisdom and resources of time and energy with the “mentoree” thus empowering him/her to align his life with Christ.
Our relationship wasn’t that formal but she shared much godly wisdom with me as she allowed me to “see” Christ in her, the hope of glory.

She lived Christ and found her joy in Him. I was just blessed to be alongside for all those years, especially during the summer when I got to spend a week at her house. I couldn’t wait to go to Mama’s---just to be with her. Mama might have been short in stature but she was the spiritual giant of my life.

October 7

10/7/09 My grandfather, Robert William Davenport (aka “Dang-Dang”) was born on this day in 1896. I remember his funeral, August 5, 1965. I remember because there were so many flowers and at least ½ the population of Clarksville, TN, or so it seemed. A giant of a man to me with a gravely voice and a generous nature. He let me fill a sack with goodies every time I came to “his” store, Davenport’s Grocery at 3rd and Commerce. As a child, so I’ve been told, I always asked him for a “heavy” sack----the kind that would hold more, I imagine.

My grandmother, Margaret Louise Hooper Davenport, (aka “Mama”) died on this day in 1981. Small, petite and soft spoken, my first spiritual mentor. At her funeral I remember my mother telling me not to cry or I’d get her upset and “we” didn’t do things like that.

My precious niece, Allyson Leigh Adams, died on this day (1995) as well. She was only 18. Tall, slender and absolutely gorgeous. A real dancer too. I’ll never forget that morning walking out of the hospital in Owensboro, Ky---the closest one to where her wreck occurred. I seemed to be in a vacuum screaming for the world to stop and take notice, though no sound came. How could the cars keep driving by and people kept moving as if nothing had happened? It was surreal because something so life altering for all the Adams family had just drastically changed and no one was even taking notice. Our lives would never be the same. You’re probably thinking I should have named this entry, “Morbid Moments.” And it would have been that if that were the end of the story. But God……and the community of faith and family and friends rallied and prayed and fed and soothed. Bus loads of Tri Delts from UK lined the church walkway and sang their love song. Cars pulled over. People came out of their businesses and stood in quiet respect on Virginia Street as the long processional of cars followed the hearse to Riverside Cemetery.
Throughout the years her memory has continued to be honored with memorial services, a playground built at the Methodist church in her name, a stained glass window in the preschool area and a tree on the lawn of the ΔΔΔ house on the UK campus.

Deaths of loved ones can “rock” one’s world. Their funerals become images often recalled for years. How grateful I am for the Rock in my life, the One that is immutable. He offers hope---that blessed assurance shared by believers. If I didn’t have that faith, October 7 would cast a pall over my life each year when it rolled around. But God……..His Word reminds us:

"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.
"In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
"If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:1-3)

His Word---It’s what gives us a future and a hope.