Through all of the stories there is an undercurrent of the necessity for spiritual change in our lives, how our salvation isn’t just about a prayer and a moment in time, but a lifetime of growing and walking with Christ. She shares poignant stories of her internships in Chicago working with the homeless, and of the time she led a team from her church helping with relief efforts at Ground Zero days after 9/11. Sarah’s narratives of her early life growing up in Pennsylvania and Michigan as the daughter of a Baptist minister made me chuckle and brought up fond memories of my own childhood in the Midwest. And he, like the rest of my family, swears by it.

I confess, I have never been brave enough to try dandelion wine, but my brother has. No matter what your ailment, dandelion wine would cure it. Now, this culinary delight was not for the purpose of inebriation. My great-grandfather made dandelion wine. I had to chuckle at the title Picking Dandelions because there were many, many spring days in my childhood when my parents sent my younger brother and I out into the yard and the open lot across the street to pick dandelions until our hands were thoroughly stained yellow. EST, and I will announce the winner that evening. Zondervan was handing out copies of her book at the Festival, and since I already have a copy of my own, it’s my pleasure to share it with one of you today! Just leave a comment on this post by Monday 5 p.m. We exchanged a couple e-mails, and I have her to thank for making we aware of the Festival. I had stumbled across Sarah’s blog a month ago and left a comment. Last week at the Festival of Faith & Writing, I had the pleasure of meeting Sarah Cunningham whose spiritual memoir Picking Dandelions:The search for Eden among life’s weeds was recently published by Zondervan.

Picking Dandelions by Sarah Cunningham