Dandelions and Daydreams

Every little town across the United States has its own unique, and often surprising, history. The little town I called home as a kid never seemed like much of a happening place, but quiet little Toccoa, Georgia was the birthplace of Paul Anderson (an Olympic powerlifter during the 1950’s), the home to James Brown the King of Soul (He was actually a janitor at the local high school before he was the King of Soul), the residence of Doc Tommy Scott owner of the last old-timey medicine show and the last living member of the original Grand Ole’ Opry.

I think the greatest contribution that Toccoa made to American history came from a place under the unassuming name, Camp Toccoa. It was at Camp Toccoa, in World War II, that the very first Army paratroopers learned how to jump out of airplanes and go fight for freedom.

The funny thing is that this huge piece of history was ignored until a guy named Tom Hanks decided to make an HBO movie series called Band of Brothers.

Surprising history goes beyond just a town. Most families have some sort of surprising history. I’ll even say that most lives have some sort of surprising history when you learned that you have more strength than you ever thought you could have.

What’s the surprising history in your town? What’s the surprising history in your family? What’s the surprising history in your life?

Welcome to the April 15, 2008 edition of carnival of Christian women. This edition actually includes the submissions from the April 1 edition as well. I was too sick that week to get to the computer.

Devotionals

Shamelle presents It Doesn’t Cost Much To Consult With God why don’t we do it more often?

January Cat presents Recipients posted at What I Believe. When Jesus died on the cross He gave an incredible gift that we can never repay. Do you give without expecting repayment?

God Moments

Angelawd presents Ministry moment posted at angelawd. Even in the worst of circumstances, a homeless man was able to see God working in his life.

Home

GP presents Present Simplicity posted at Innstyle Montana- Come on Inn. “To quote Leonardo DaVinci “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”"

Margaret Mary presents Voluntary Simplicity posted at Earthly Paradise.

Life

ITAKEOFFTHEMASK presents Why are we committing suicide? posted at itakeoffthemask.com. There is an overwhelming need for God, and without Him there is little worth living for.

Anna Farmery presents Never Be Afraid of Living posted at Widows Quest. Life circumstances are rarely ideal, yet we should do our best with what we have.

Denise M. Ruggieri presents Empowerment 101 posted at Blessings from Above. Stop shortchanging yourself, you are an amazing woman!

Anna Farmery presents Are you doodling or creating a masterpiece? posted at The Engaging Brand. What would you do if you had your life to live over again?

Ministry

Ariah Fine presents Isn’t It The Churches Job? So, Why Do We Ask The Government? posted at Trying to Follow

The next edition of the carnival of Christian women will be on May 1, submit your blog article using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Wildflowers are always the first, hopeful signals of spring. In Georgia, the first flowers of spring are usually the daffodils and the peaches. A walk through the woods in late March will reveal and abundance of blossoms. The beauty pageant of wildflowers will continue through the summer and into the fall with each new week trying to outdo the week before in both color and fragrance.

One of my favorite haunts is the periwinkle farm. At some point in history. this place had a cabin with a fireplace at each end. I can almost hear the echoes of children’s laughter ringing off the hilltops. The keeper of this homestead loving planted her garden (you can actually still see the level spot where a vegetable garden once stood). To add a bit more beauty she planted a few daffodil bulb here and some periwinkle there. There was a pink flower bush over near the well (I’ve only caught it in bloom once). The hillside was terraced for farming, but it’s been so long that the farm has grown over with pine trees.

Most of the time, old house sites make me sad. The fallen down houses are forgotten, ignored. Even if I leave an old falling down house, I want my mark on this world to be flowers that bloom every spring reminding everyone that winter is over. Whoever planted the periwinkle at this home site definitely left her mark on the world. The periwinkle continues to spread and cover more area. Some day the whole area will be covered.