Appalachian Blessings

I don’t do New Year’s resolutions. The idea of waiting until January 1 to start doing something I ought to be doing anyway is so arbitrary. If I need to start a new habit–what’s wrong with now? That’s what I did a couple of years ago when the small voice that had been...

Doing research for my novels often digs up the most intriguing bits of information. While looking into Appalachian Christmas traditions for what I hope will be my fourth novel, I ran across a reference to "Old Christmas." It's celebrated on January 6, so I assumed it...

On Christmas Eve 1974 I'd just turned three and was beginning to understand that Christmas Eve meant certain things: Our stockings would be hung over the chimney. My older brother had a Santa stocking, while mine featured a snow man, and I don't think my two-month-old...

Every year I think about finding a devotional series to read during Advent. And rarely do I find one that I'll stick with. But this year has been different. Our pastor had the wonderful idea of getting the congregation to write our OWN devotion series. He assigned one...

I missed posting last Thursday because I was in the car driving, driving, driving the seven hours home to WV. It was a good visit. Took my dad to a doctor's appointment to continue planning the attack on his...

I just spent a long weekend in WV hanging out with my family and celebrating my niece's fifth birthday. It was a good weekend with gorgeous weather, no issues traveling, and Mom's chocolate cake which is the best cake in the world. Saturday we held the festivities...