Dandelions and Daydreams

Sometimes I can just feel God smiling down on me.  Yesterday, we secured a new rental.  The new apartment is a cute 2 bedroom, 1 bath apartment.  It is full of light and sunshine.  I can’t decide if I am most excited about having a washer and dryer, a dishwasher, or a full bathtub (our current apartment only has a shower stall).

Yesterday, after I took advantage of that bathtub, I was laying out on the back porch of the new apartment drying my hair in the setting sun.  The backyard was alive with birds chirping.  The tulips in the flower beds are pushing up through the leaves that were raked over them last fall.

In the lot next door, some movement caught my eye.  For the next 20 minutes, I sat and watched two feisty hummingbirds fighting over a plum tree in bloom.  As the sun set behind the mountains, I could feel God smiling.

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I woke up this morning to the pitter-patter of raindrops on the leaves outside the bedroom window. The sky is gray, but the earth turned green overnight. I think that every living thing needs water in the spring. I may have to go dance in the rain later today when it warms up a bit.

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Devotionals

Journeying Forward presents From Brokenness to Wine - Let Him Squeeze posted at Journeying Forward, saying, “A reminder that brokenness is useful in the hands of our mighty God…”

Theresa L. Twogood presents Big Picture Progressive Exposure posted at OLIN e-Book e-Publishing.

Malia Russell presents I Love You More from Homemaking 911 posted at Homemaking 911.

Making Home

Violette DeSantis presents Making a Christian Home posted at her christian blog.

Laura Williams presents Enchilada Casserole posted at Laura Williams’ Musings.

Jessica Jones presents Confessions of a Mother posted at Practical Nourishment.

Mother Hen presents Wholesome Christian Adventure posted at Ship Full O’ Pirates.

Marriage

Heather Hendrick presents Sit a Spell: 7 day challenge posted at Sit a Spell. This is a 7-post series recording one woman’s week long journey into loving and respecting her husband.

Life

GP presents Uplifted When I just Keep Singin? posted at Innstyle Montana- Come on Inn, saying, “Singing worship songs brings the L-rd closer in everything we’re doing”

Alli Diller presents Business Lessons from the ‘Wife of Noble Character’ posted at God & Mammon, saying, “Contrary to many Christian stereotypes of proper female behavior, this passage does not depict the virtuous and praiseworthy wife as a submissive homebody whose SOLE purpose in life is to raise children and do dishes.”

Marriage

Malia Russell presents Affair Proof Your Marriage » Homemaking 911 posted at Homemaking 911.

Ministry

Kaye presents Does God Want Me to Be a Loaf? posted at Mrs Nespy’s World, saying, “Is God speaking or is it me?”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of Christian women using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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I sat down to post the Carnival of Christian Women only to find the blog carnival site is down.  Hopefully it will be back up again soon.

In the mean time, check out a couple of these blogs that I love to read:

• The Inspired Room–Interior decorating at its finest
•  Inside Montana–We all need some fresh air and a bit of big sky country.
• Christian Women Online Blog–Internet Devotions and inspiration
• Her Christian Blog–a new find, and fast becoming a favorite

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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?

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The last remnants of the winter that wouldn’t end have gone retreating to the highlands, only to come rushing back down the mountains in the swollen rivers.  The snow-melt has begun to raise the lake levels again and soon the beaches will be filled with laughter as summer swimming and boating begins.

Two weeks of endless rain sprinkled with occasional snow showers left my soul feeling melancholy and my heart with nothing to write.  And over those few weeks, the cobwebs began to grow over my brain and the dirty laundry piled up because the writing was silenced.

I opened my blog to post, only to find myself with nothing to say.  When technology fails me, I pull out my favorite mind cleaning tool–pen and paper.  Three pages of barely decipherable script later, my heart was renewed, the sun was shining, and I found my voice again.

I looked out the window only to discover that while the rains were falling, the daffodils bloomed!  Perhaps spring will conquer this winter after all.

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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.

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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.

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I just wanted to pop in here for a moment to assure all my readers that I have not been abducted by aliens, fallen off the face of this earth, or even fallen into a pit of molten lava.  I’m afraid the explanation for my silence is quite mundane.  After returning home from my vacation, I relapsed with a cold/cough.  I decided to extend my vacation for a few more days until I had completely recovered.  It’s been a week now, and I’m starting to feel human again.  Hopefully I can get back on track in the next few days.

Sunny

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Last night I had dinner with three dear friends from my days as a camp counselor at Camp Chattooga.   I laughed so much in four hours that my side cramped up.  It is still cramped up this morning.  I wish I lived closer and could see these amazing women more often.

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