SCATTERED!

May I set my mind---center my scattered mind.

It's the first thought I had this morning looking out the window as I headed to my prayer chair. All week, I have watched the pile of scatterings increase both in the yard and in my distracted mine.

"Why the impact of scattered petals?" one might ask. These heritage snowball bushes were from the family home of my most influential spiritual mentor, Mama Davenport, Margaret Louise Hooper of Hampton Station, Ky.

The force that drives and scatters my mind in many directions is NOT the force Mama Davenport taught me. She taught me to trust the "force" of Christ in my heart. She knew that as I matured there would still be times when I would be "prone to wander" & need to "bind my wandering heart to Thee" as my old favorite hymn said. ("Come Thou Fount")

Today I chose to follow through...........

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it

Prone to leave the God I love

Here's my heart, oh take and seal it

Seal it for Thy courts above.

....set my heart, aong with my mind & my voice, on things above. AMEN!

Center & settle me again today O Lord,----in honor of my grandmother and to the glory of your son, so that our sweet Jesus, the only true force, may once again spring forth!

SNOWBALLS EVERYWHERE

Snowballs everywhere! Bushes, that is! It's 70º after all. 

My snowball (viburnums) bushes have a rich heritage and a circuitous journey.

They originally were propagated between family home places in Kentucky & Tennessee and back again---same Hooper/Davenport family generations just at different locations.

From this one plant have come snowball bushes at homes of extended family or friends in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee (4 towns) and Texas. A gift that keeps on giving.

Now I'll need to bring home some bluebonnets from Texas and see how they will bloom in Memphis....

......as part of a new floral family heritage tale. 

"Winter is past: ...........the flowers appear on the earth. (Song of Solomon 2: 11-12)

4/26 Morning text shared picture of this Batesville MS "heritage" snowball bush. How appropriate is the cross-shape as she is one of my ever faithful prayer warriors!

4/27 Morning text from Ellen in Walnut Grove/ St. Mary's area blessed me with another beautiful thriving "heritage" snowball bush photo.

4/27 PM text from "Alabama Ashlee" (before I even posted am one) thrilled my heart!

Both Mother and Mama Davenport are smiling down from heaven seeing their Hooper/Davenport/Adams/ Liles snowball bushes are continuing to spread joy!

4/28 Oh my, I received another snowball pic.... a Germantown "heritage" snowball that is showing signs of a cross formation! S & T must be using spiritual fertilizer.

4/29 This Texas snowball bush even comes with it's own Rhodesian Ridgeback guard dog, Zeke. The owner is our older son, who is the great, great, great grandson of the original planter.

Addendum--2 years later in Apri 2024, after dying way back in 2023, this heritage snowball bush resurrected itself on Pleasant Run in Allen, TX. WooHoo!

Is this a "Battle of the Bushes"? 

In no way....this is a celebrations of Pa Hooper my great, great, grandfather on Mother's side born in the late 1800s in Hampton Station, KY. His daughter, my "Mama Davenport" was my spiritual mentor!

CONSIDER HERITAGE-SHARING

Of all the influential women in my early years, several stand out. Mother, enough said. Gena, a grandmother who nurtured my love for reading at every turn. Mrs. Munday, my 4th grade teacher who helped me, a crying 10 yr. old, with "complicated" division. Christine, my across the street neighbor, who was like a grandmother to me.

But...it was my maternal grandmother, Mama Davenport, who was my spiritual mentor, before I even knew what that was. With her gnarled arthritic hands clasped in prayer and her humming in the kitchen as she stirred up stewed tomatoes in her white enamel saucepan with the red rim, her quiet gentle spirit spoke volumes. Her willingness to "walk" up that 2nd street hill to church every Sunday because she didn't drive and Dang-Dang would not take her. 

I've not known many women I could label as "never complaining," but Mama was a the top of that list. (1Timothy 6:6)

Her well worn Bible is one of my treasures and her underlined verses have offered much insight in to her suffering and her trust in the Lord. My other treasure is my heritage snowball bush.....

...which had its beginnings from her childhood home in Hampton Station, Kentucky. From there to Clarksville, TN, to my parents' home in Hopkinsville, Ky to my home in Memphis, TN, the bush is a living legacy of a small graceful woman who was and still is in many ways, my spiritual mentor.

A snowball  bush that has been propagated and cultivated throughout Memphis and to our son's home in Texas and most recently to our daughter's home in Richland Estates.

Not only do I love that this bush will be cultivated with love and spiritual memories, I love it that Molly and Corey's dog who is checking it out is named Millie. Millie was Daddy's pet name for mother. If he was getting really sassy he would call her Millie Lou.

What a legacy of love came to my mind as I typed. What a great heritage I have been given.
My "heritage snowball bush" is but a reminder to open her Bible and consider the best underlined passages to  share---not only with my children but also with my "grands," (Proverbs 13:22) as the heritage of the upright will abide forever.(Psalm 37:18, AMP)

Green Thumb Generosity Generates Blessings

The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof...(Psalm 24:1a)

Every morning as I sit and look out at God's garden---given first by Him & now shared by others with me, I am grateful that this "brown thumb" gal is so tangibly loved by others. Others with a horticultural "green thumb."

The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. 

And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:12)

As my mother and grandmother before me, I have been blessed with friends who share slips, dividing and cuttings of flowers, and trees and bushes with other terms of propagation, I don't even know. (in water, in dirt, in perlite, "buried") Others have "gifted" me---son Josh with my Mother's Day cherry tree 30 years ago and Daddy's white dogwood tree, given by dear, dear, friends in 2011.

But.....sharing from their own gardens---their green thumb should shine in heaven.

• Mother--"pinks" and baby's breath
• Mama Davenport--snowball bush originally from Hampton Station, KY & growing in 2 more spots before winding up in my yard
• Mommar's day lilies--mother-in-law
• Beth and JoLynn's hostas--from Tuscany Way
• Mrs. Neely's 4 o'clocks--former "elderly" neighbor
• Wynellen's phlox and butterfly bush--former neighbor
• Mimi's Lenten Roses & Solomon's Seal--GAC swim buddy and "round the block" neighbor
• Jerrie's big green and yellow unknown variety, 365 friend & more
• Winslow's Louisville KY goose neck--high school chum & college roomie
• Lynda's assorted perennials and ferns--master gardener and next-door neighbor, along with lots of "much needed" advice.

Even FL friend, Julie provided (when she moved to DC) a variety of patio pots and a "weathered bird" art which I love.

....the world and they that dwell there in. (Psalm 24:1b) 

All of those who dwell in God's world and have crossed my garden path, or lack there of, have generously blessed me with their " great" green thumbs! 

It's great to have a green thumb but it's even greater to share that skill with others!!

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.

SABBATH SNAPSHOTS: MOSTLY WHITE

5/5/13 Mother loved white flowers---a look of peace and serenity to her. Her urns on the front steps had white geraniums and her viburnum down the side were filled with those large showy white snowballs from her mama's childhood home. Mother planted snowball bushes from "Mama" Davenport's original bushes for each of her three children. I have done the same for my three by simply burying a blooming snowball while still attached to the tree and allowing it to root. So...the heritage continues. Heirloom snowballs for inside and out.

SABBATH SNAPSHOTS: People who make a difference

4/22/12 In our lives we have family members, friends, neighbors, even service industry folks who make a difference. That’s what I saw as I looked through my photos from this week. These plants reminded me of such people. I am thankful for each in my life.

Bloom from my “heritage” snowball bush---originally from my grandmother, Mama’s, childhood home in Hampton Station KY. She took a cutting with her when she married Robert Davenport (my Dang-Dang) and moved to Clarksville, TN. Mama was my spiritual mentor.

A Magnolia tree given by Nancy R., a former Longreen neighbor, in memory of that same grandmother. A real essence of sweetness comes from her memory tree, just as pure sweetness emanated from the very core of her being 

A snapshot from my Wednesday “walkabout” with long time friend and walking encourager, Ellen. We walked in my “hood” this week.

Honeysuckle where I park for my “local” library---there the librarians bless my heart with their recommendations of “good reads” and big smiles. The distinct smell of the honeysuckle had childhood love of libraries and other memories flooding my mind.

Dear friend Ann’s, son Brad, (in sunglasses) has always been a generous supporter of the university. I know how pleased she is with his continued generosity in Memphis-- from education, health, and church to the arts.

A single dogwood bloom on the tree outside the track area beside hubby’s office at the university—a man who puts up with me. Enough said.

.

Saying Good-bye

Preparing to "eat" from great-great grandmother, Mama Davenport's, heritage snowball bush!

4/11/12 Bye-bye! They're on a plane, heading north to Brooklyn----this house is entirely too quiet and I am too incredibly sad! Yet, how grateful I am for time with family---even if it's short. Looking forward to "Big Water" when all 15  of us will be together again.

Patio Ponderings

4/27/09 Patio quiet times
What a way to start the day---with a “cuppa” and one of Tootsie’s macaroons--a cool morning, and my heritage snowball bush in full bloom. (The original rooting came from my grandmother’s childhood home in Hampton Station, KY, to my mother's childhood home on South Second in Clarksville, TN, to my childhood home in Hopkinsville, KY, and now back to TN, ready to pass on to each of my children.) Add to that a red Adirondack chair with a pot of bright red double begonias (gift from HHS Student Impact and Andi Darlington) on the table right beside me---a table that is also stacked with my Bible, Jesus Calling, and my "MAC Journey" journal.
I wanted to start my day the way Linda Dickens would have started hers---like a blank sheet given to the Lord, eagerly anticipating what the Lord would write on it. She sought His agenda, His plan.
Mary Flo does much the same---she calls it being spontaneous. I see it as her way of allowing God to be in control and rejoicing over whatever or whomever God brings across her path that day. Not that she doesn’t plan---she does. She has a calendar on her computer that is synced with her palm pilot but that’s just her framework---the parameters of an organized life---not set in stone. (like agendas of type A folks) it's one that is joyfully expectant of additions or deletions from the Lord. She practices Proverbs 16:9. “The mind of man plans his way but the Lord directs his steps.”
Jesus Calling, as always, seemed to echo my thoughts. “Come to me with empty hands.” “Let me fill……” So I went to my next standard devotional, My Utmost for His Highest journal. It is chocked full of stickie notes, a picture or two, pithy grabbers and song lyrics. Some are wedged in better than others. This morning when I picked it up, the lyrics of the hymn, “Lord of the Ages” fell out---such a God-thing---just succinct verses to express my rambling thoughts.

God of the morning, gladly your children (child)
worship(s) before you...
I am your(s) now and forever kept by your hand.
(May I) Crown You each moment, “Lord of Today!”
(my paraphrase)

Linda and Mary Flo have done that in their lives---crowning Him each morning, “Lord of the Day.” That’s’ why both of these women’s lives are worth emulating---God directed/directs their steps. Like the apostle Paul, they could say, “do as I do.” “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.” (Philippians 3:17) 

Wow, what a testimony that would be---to live my life in such a way that others would see Christ in me, the hope of glory.