by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Dec 24, 2018 | History, holidays, Miracles
Five decades ago on Christmas Eve astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders were the first men to orbit the moon. This flight–Apollo 8–is the one during which Anders snapped the famous “Earth rise” photo. But they did something else...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Dec 20, 2018 | Appalachian, Family, History, holidays, Memories, superstition, Thistle
While I suppose we were relatively modern when it came to my childhood Christmases, the old-timey traditions are still hanging on in the mountains. And there are some I very much think we should revive for broader use. Here are a few of my favorite Appalachian...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Dec 17, 2018 | Church
Yesterday our pastor talked about the third chapter of Matthew. You know, John the Baptist preparing the way for Christ. Basically, it’s about John preaching repentance. And John must have been an effective preacher, because he inspired the crowd to ask what...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Dec 13, 2018 | Appalachian, Family, holidays, Memories, Waiting
Guess what? It’s 12 days ’til Christmas! Yup, Christmas is less than two weeks away. Are you ready? Are you counting down with joy and anticipation? Or is there a little how-will-I-get-everything-done dread mixed in there? When I was little, we had a count-down to...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Dec 10, 2018 | Nature, Reading, Thistle
Well, we didn’t quite get the foot and a half of snow predicted, but I’d rather the weather forecasters overestimate than under. Still, it began snowing Saturday and there was a lovely layer of snow when we woke Sunday morning. The result was a...
