I LOVE HOLLYHOCKS! 8/1/10

MY MEMORY is vague as I remember the Hollyhocks of my youth. I see an alley behind our house on 4th avenue. Along a fence there were Hollyhocks blooming with red, pink, white with soft shades of pink, yellow and purple flowers popping out on long green stems with dark green foliage.

WHEN WE MOVED into our house in Klamath Falls,along the north side of the house, lots of long stems of green grew in the soft dirt which left no room to walk. At first they were just stumps and as the months passed and the weather warmed they grew tall. Around June and Into July they began to bloom. They were not only tall but full of color and sparkle which is what brought pleasurable memories flooding my mind.

THAT FIRST SUMMER my grandsons had picked many of the blooms and Faye, their mother, had memories of her own. She took those little flowers and made tiny girls spinning as though they were at a ball. I never knew you could do that! No one had ever showed me how to turn the flower upside down into a ball gown. They were so beautiful! Exquisite! Like, right out of a fairy tale. I discoverd that day, Faye and I love Hollyhocks!

THAT FALL Jim had a sidewalk put in, all around our house. This was so we could walk around the house as we got older without any problems. This meant he was going to have the Hollyhocks removed. I begged him not to take the ones out closest to the fence since the sidewalk would be up against the house. Today as I write, the fence is lined with tall stems filled with bright red blooms. Soon we will have many different colors lining the fence and I am already drawn back into my memories. In the morning as I talk with my Lord while walking around the house, I tell him; "Lord, thank you for Hollyhocks; I just love them!"

DO YOU HAVE A FLOWER that brings a memory along with it. Does it have a fragrance that reminds you of someone? When I smell the "Night Blooming Jasmine" I think of my mother. When I smell the fragrance of a Gardenia I remember my wedding and also think of my sister Joyce. God has given us such a wonderful tool that has so many wonderful aspects and yet we take it for granted. Our minds! While we have a mind let's use it to our advantage! Let's exercise it and keep it fresh and active! It's our mind that keeps us young; learning; seeking for answers.

WHEN MY MOTHER had forgotten something she would say; "I just put it out of my mind!" Perhaps she did and perhaps she had just forgotten. I am at the place in my life where I forget things. I forget where I put things; what I said and what I was going to do. My mother eventually came to a place in her life where she didn't even remember who her children were or who she was. She had Alzheimer's!

GOD USES HIS WORD to call to mind the ways of man, doesn't He? "A man's mind plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps." Proverbs 16:9 "A man of crooked mind does not prosper, and one with a perverse tongue falls into calamity." Proverbs 17:20 "Just as water reflects your image; so the mind of man reflects the man!" Proverbs 27:19

I HAVE HEARD that when Christ went to the cross, we were on His mind! Do you believe that? We know that His mother was on His mind because as He was suffering He made arrangements for John to care for her as his own mother. When the thief confessed his belief and asked to be remembered, he was immediately upon Jesus' mind. He prayed for the church while in the garden and yet the church was not yet in motion. We are the church and yes, I believe we were on His mind. We are on His mind today! One of my favorite verses, that I use often in Morning Glory is; "I should set my mind on the things above and not on the things of this earth!" Colossians 3:2 Oh, how I love you Lord; let me count the ways! By Jane Ann Crenshaw 7/27/10