I was finally able to photograph the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus Train during it’s home run to Tampa, FL. I have been trying to catch the train for several years during a jump and was able to catch it today as it came through Knoxville.

2009 Blue Unit Circus Train:
—61 cars (40 conventional passenger-type cars; 21 TTX-[type] piggyback flats)
—4,490 Tons (when fully loaded)
—5,409 Feet (WITHOUT host RR’s power attached; 1 mile = 5,280 feet)

The following links will take you to the two sets of photos I shot today.

North Group – Ringling Bros. Blue Unit

South Group – Ringling Bros. Blue Unit

Additional Reference: Trainorders.com, Yahoo Circus Train Group

Today’s photo was taken in a field outside of Sweetwater on a sunny, breezy summer afternoon.

The John Messer Barn is a historic structure within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee. Located along the Porters Creek Trail in the Greenbrier valley, it was constructed in 1875 by Pinkney Whaley. The Whaleys later sold their farm to John H. Messer, who was married to Pinkney’s cousin, Lucy. In the 1930s, the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club, which constructed the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club Cabin nearby, leased the barn from the National Park Service. The barn was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, and is the last surviving structure from the pre-park Greenbrier Cove community. This barn should not be confused with the Messer Barn in Cataloochee, which was built by John’s cousin, Will Messer.

The Messer Barn is a type of double-cantilever barn unique to East Tennessee, and rarely found outside Sevier, Blount, and Cocke counties. The barn is one story with a hayloft, and measures 25 feet (7.6 m) by 45 feet (14 m). The gabled roof, as with all double-cantilevers, has considerable overhang, allowing livestock shelter in inclement weather. Unlike the reconstructed double-cantilever barn at the Tipton Place in Cades Cove, the Messer Barn’s overhang is supported by poles along the outer edge.

The barn’s foundation is dry field stone, and is higher on one end to compensate for the hillslope. The barn interior consists of two pens, each divided into two stalls, with a “drive-through” in the middle. While the barn walls are built of wooden boards, the pens are built of hewn logs. The barn’s hayloft consists of poles set on two-foot centers.

Photo Gallery: Smoky Mountains

A couple of days ago I posted my top 5 strengths from the StrengthsFinder 2.0 test. Today I am continuing what I call the “Who Am I” series of posts by looking at my spiritual gifts.

God has gifted every Christian with spiritual gifts. Gene Wilkes defines a spiritual gift as “an expression of the Holy Spirit in the life of believers which empowers them to serve the body of Christ, the church.” If you are wondering, or have ever wondered, where God has gifted you to serve His church; take a spiritual gifts survey to discover the gifts God has given you.

Here are my top 3: Giving, Administration, Service/Helps.

Giving (24)
Members with the gift of giving give freely and joyfully to the work and mission of the body. Cheerfulness and liberality are characteristics of individuals with this gift (Rom. 12:8).

Administration (18)
Persons with the gift of administration lead the body by steering others to remain on task. Administration enables the body to organize according to God-given purposes and long-term goals (1 Cor. 12:28).

Service/Helps (16)
Those with the gift of service/helps recognize practical needs in the body and joyfully give assistance to meeting those needs. Christians with this gift do not mind working behind the scenes (1 Cor. 12:28; Rom. 12:7).

What are your spiritual gifts?

You can download and take the Spiritual Gifts Survey from LifeWay Christian Resources. You can also download the list of gift descriptions and scripture references as well. Both files require Adobe Acrobat Reader.

• Spiritual Gifts Survey

• Spiritual Gifts List

Related links & References:

What Are Your Strengths?

LifeWay Christian Resources

Chances are, most of us don’t have the opportunity to do what we do best every day? Most of us spend more time trying to overcome our weaknesses instead of focusing on and developing our strengths.

I picked up a copy of Tom Rath’s “StrengthFinder 2.0″ a couple of weeks ago after reading a post by Lindsey Nobles, Thomas Nelson’s Director of Corporate Communications. Lindsey had posted the results of her StrengthsFinder test on her blog.

Now, I know what I consider my strengths to be, but wondered what this test would reveal. I was amazed at how accurate my results were. The test also provided me with a report of my top five strengths along with an action plan for applying my strengths.

I’ll tell you how to get your StrengthsFinder test at the end of this post. For now, here are my Top 5: Analytical, Belief, Deliberative, Discipline, & Responsibility

Analytical
People who are especially talented in the Analytical theme search for reasons and causes.
They have the ability to think about all the factors that might affect a situation.

Belief
People who are especially talented in the Belief theme have certain core values that are
unchanging. Out of these values emerges a defined purpose for their life.

Deliberative
People who are especially talented in the Deliberative theme are best described by the serious
care they take in making decisions or choices. They anticipate the obstacles.

Discipline
People who are especially talented in the Discipline theme enjoy routine and structure. Their
world is best described by the order they create.

Responsibility
People who are especially talented in the Responsibility theme take psychological ownership
of what they say they will do. They are committed to stable values such as honesty and
loyalty.

So, what are your strengths?

Here’s how to get started:

1. Visit to your local bookstore and buy StrengthsFinder 2.0, Strengths Based Leadership, or Now, Discover Your Strengths.
2. Find 30 minutes or so of uninterrupted time.
3. Go to www.strengthsfinder.com and take the online test.

Knoxville’s First Presbyterian Church, the city’s first church, was organized in 1792 and is still located on its original site.  James White, Knoxville’s founder and a devout Presbyterian, came from North Carolina to the Fork of the River, where the Holston and French Broad Rivers meet to form the Tennessee River. He later moved downriver and settled near First Creek. He built a fort and a mill and planted his garden — for turnips in the fall and corn in the spring. When he asked his son-in-law, Charles McClung, to lay out a town, part of White’s instructions were “to reserve my turnip patch for a church and a burying ground.”

Although 1800 is the earliest death date inscribed on a tombstone in the church cemetery, the site may have been used by the pioneers as a community burying ground as early as 1786 when James White’s fort was built. Among those buried in the church graveyard are James White, the founder of Knoxville; Rev. Samuel Carrick, our first minister; Hugh Lawson White, a candidate for U.S. President in 1836; territorial governor William Blount; and Col. John Williams, a member of Congress. The graveyard is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

I received “Beautiful Mess: The Story of Diamond Rio” as a Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger. This book is about the country music band Diamond Rio. It tells of the bands rise to country music stardom, downfalls and eventual revival. The book follows all six members of Diamond Rio through their trials and difficulties made it in the music industry, from the Opryland Amusement Park to country music stardom.

“Beautiful Mess” gives you an in-depth look into each member’s experiences by devoting a separate chapter to each member of the band. Each member told his own journey in his own words which felt more like a conversation or panel discussion than just reading a book. The fact that these guys are still together without any member change is practically unheard of but it is a testament of their faith and respect for each other and their music.

Any Diamond Rio fan, country music fan or anyone who just enjoys reading biographies/autobiographies and personal accounts will enjoy this book. “Beautiful Mess” is a very well written book in a personal and easy style that pulls the reader in. You can pick up a copy of “Beautiful Mess” from any book seller or from Thomas Nelson’s web site.

Done any Whittling Lately? The Gift of Being
by Dan Miller

Webster’s Dictionary defines whittle as to cut away aimlessly at a stick. Okay, but is cutting away aimlessly on a stick a waste of time, or a useful part of a balanced life?

Last Sunday on a leisurely afternoon drive, Joanne and I found ourselves in Lynchburg, TN.  This is the town made famous for one product only – Jack Daniels.  It‚s not all about making whiskey; obviously, lots of people there were involved in growing corn, barley and rye as well as other components of a vibrant community.  But we found some very quaint memorabilia around this little town, calling people back to a simpler kind of life.

One small sign read:

To the casual observer, carving and whittling may appear to be similar pursuits.  But the two are related only by the fact that each requires a sharp knife, a good piece of wood, and, as with most things round here, a fair amount of time. Here’s how to tell the difference.  If a person is carving, he is making some sort of useful object.  Odds are he will end up passing this object on to somebody who will appreciate the gesture greatly.  In whittling, on the other hand, the process itself is the thing.  The result of this effort is simply a poke of wood shavings.  It is important to note that this does not make whittling any less important than carving.  Each is useful in its own way, and rarely does a person excel at both.

I remember as a small boy running up to the old guys sitting on the park bench in our little town, to see what they were making with their knives and sticks only to be disappointed as the stick disappeared totally with no meaningful object appearing at all.  I always assumed they were disappointed as well as they somehow missed the critical cut where they could have shaped a dog or a whistle.  Now I see that perhaps it was I who missed the point of the process.

Maybe in our rush to ‘do’ we miss some of the opportunities to just ‘be’.

Max Lucado’s newest release, “Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear”, is nothing short of amazing. Being someone who has lived a large portion of his adult life battling anxiety and depression, I could not wait to get my hands on this book. Each chapter covers a fear that each one of us has experienced at least once in our life. Chapters such as the fear of not mattering, overwhelming challenges, financial disaster, and that God is not real are just a few. And as a Christian, we should face those fears with faith and trust in a Holy God. Yet, many of us cower, worry, and fret. Only to find out our fear was unfounded.

Many of the chapters in “Fearless” have answered my doubts and calmed my fears. Will I still experience these feelings? Sure, but I know who can end the worry and calm my fears. And, I now have a plan for stopping those worries too. In one of the chapters, Max provides eight steps to stop the worry and be more P-E-A-C-E-F-U-L: Pray, first. Easy, now. Act on it. Compile a worry list. Evaluate your worry categories. Focus on today. Unleash a worry army. Let God be enough.

I received this book as a Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger. You can purchase “Fearless” from any book seller, through Thomas Nelson Publishers, or direct from Max Lucado’s web site.

From someone who has overcome fear and anxiety, I highly recommend this book and encourage you to get it. It is an easy read and full of answers to many of today’s fears. Imagine your life without fear.

Related Links

www.TheFearlesBook.com

www.MaxLucado.com/TownHall

www.ThomasNelson.com/Fearless

The Ross Marble Company purchased the land that is now Mead’s Quarry for one hundred dollars and began mining operations in 1881.  The company merged with the Republic Marble Company in 1892 to become the Ross-Republic Marble Company.  The company employed 150 workers and cut 25,000-35,000 cubic feet of marble annually. The marble was cut and polished at the marble mill that was located next to the railroad 200 yards to the north.  Trains shipped the light-pink and gray marble to construction sites throughout the East.   Statues carved from this marble are in government buildings in Maine, New York, Ohio, and Indiana (Div of Geology, 1924).

In 1929, the demand for marble decreased due, in part, to the Great Depression.  Due to fractures in the marble, many of the blocks from the lower levels of the quarry were of low quality or were not useable.  Eventually, after 48 years of quarrying, the company closed Mead’s quarry.

In 1945, Herald Williams purchased the quarry and started the Williams Limestone Company.  Herald later gave the company to his brother J.P. Williams.  The company employed 70 workers and operated 7 kilns using white gas.  The kiln was closed after the death of Mr. Williams in 1979.

On March 3, 2001, Knox County purchased the property, which had been vacant for 22 years.  The County leased the property to Ijams Nature Center to manage for use as a public park.  The park was opened to visitors on May 17, 2005. Frank S. Mead was the first President of the Ross-Republic Marble Company and the quarry was named in his honor.

Photo Link: Mead’s Quarry