by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Feb 18, 2019 | Church, Friends, Miracles, Reading, Waiting
For a long time now I’ve assumed, based on Matthew 17:20, that my faith is pretty pitiful. Not even a mustard seed’s worth. That scripture suggests that if my faith were as much as even a BB-sized seed, I could move mountains or cast mulberry bushes into...
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 6, 2018 | Appalachian, Church, holidays, Writing
Appalachia is about people as much as it is about place. We have a lovely Christmas tradition at my church. Our pastor gathers scripture for each day of Advent (December 2-24 this year) and assigns them to volunteers who then write a short entry for a devotional...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Oct 22, 2018 | Church, Food, History, Love
This year, our church opted to do something a bit different in place of our usual homecoming. We hosted a party for the community. Instead of focusing on our history, reminiscing, and then feasting in the fellowship hall, we invited the neighborhood to come out for...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Aug 20, 2018 | Appalachian, Church, Family, History, Writing
I had the pleasure of attending the French Creek Pioneers gathering this past weekend with my dad and brother. This is a meeting of folks descended from the original settlers of French Creek, Va., back in the early 1800s (before West Virginia became a state). There...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Jul 23, 2018 | Church, Friends, Love
Sunday’s sermon was about helping the poor. Our scripture was from James 2 which cautions us not to show partiality for those who appear to be better off. Which set me to thinking about what, exactly, it means to be poor. There’s the obvious...
