Peering Through Life's Window

A Warm Welcome to Michelle Griep Michelle will give away  EITHER a print copy (U.S. residents) OR an ebook. To enter to win leave a comment and an email address below. Victorian Christmas Traditions by Michelle Griep It’s Christmas—practically. If you stroll in to any Michaels or Hobby Lobby or even swing by a Hallmark store, you can’t help but miss that the Christmas decorations are out in full bloom. Wrapping. Bows. Lit Christmas trees. Christmas music playing in the background. What’s up with all this Christmas craziness? Personally, I blame Queen Victoria and Charles Dickens. Believe it or not, before the Victorian era, the holidays really weren’t much of a wingding. Here are some traditions that you might still be enjoying all thanks to merry ole England. . . A Lighted Christmas Tree While Christmas trees had been around as a German tradition since the 17th century, it was Prince Albert, the German husband of Queen Victoria, who introduced the custom ...

A Warm Welcome to Catherine Castle Hi Catherine, Thanks for sharing a sweet devotional! When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Pie photo courtesy of Wikimedia commons We’ve all experienced it—that thing or things that bring us down. Maybe it’s a health problem, the loss of a loved one, a broken heart, or disappointment at work or home. Whatever life-lemons you are handed it can be very hard to see the sweeter side of the problem. There’s a lovely elderly lady in our church who has dementia. She’s at the stage where she knows she’s not remembering things. She can’t cook anymore because she can’t remember whether or not she’s added an ingredient, and most of the time she can’t remember the recipes she once knew by heart. We often eat supper with her after church and she sometimes can’t remember what she ordered. The ladies at the table watch out for her to make sure she gets the right drink and meal. Dementia is one of the scariest diseases I know, yet Laurie (name...