You'll want to be sure to read or listen to Seven Hours Exactly, as that Story is the set up for this one. I was led to what became the Cozy Christmas Cottage, on August 17, 2017. I had no idea then that the Seven Hour Adventure that led me there was just the Beginning of a whole series of adventures, that would bring clarity and confirmation to my calling.
I was handed the keys 4 days before my 2 year lease began. It was September 6, and my favorite, a full moon. I chose September 10, to begin the lease, as that is the day my Mother was born in 1944. She lived to celebrate 60 birthdays, and this would have been her 73rd. I was born in 73 and had turned 44 earlier in the year, so this was a special year, and a special September.
It would be in this place that so very many things would come together. I had been a licensed massage therapist for 21 years as I moved into this new location for my work and ministry, and I would finally have a place that was everything I had always imagined: a cozy little house, where I could welcome guests to relieve their stress and refresh their hearts, with the gifts of massage, encouragement, and cups of tea.
I have loved the Chronicles of Narnia since I was 7, when I watched the animation of The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe in 2nd grade, at Des Moines Christian School, in Iowa. Later, I read all 7 of the books aloud to my younger brother, and have read them to his children over the years, as well as listened to them many times, myself.
The new space for my massage and ministry work had just been completely remodeled and looked like a dream from a magazine! Lake Hamilton was in full view from the back deck, with large pine trees all around. There was a real wood burning fireplace and a cozy kitchen, a walk through rest room, which led into the only bedroom, which I used as my massage room. It was so idyllic in absolutely every way. It just looked like Narnia to me, and so Narnia it was to be!
As it was September, Christmas trees were already for sale, and I wanted to bring the coziness of a Narnia forest inside, so I bought a few trees, and that was the first step in creating what quickly became the Cozy Christmas Cottage.
It wasn't long before Christmas cupps, frozen cranberries, wool blankets, a light up snowman and gingerbread man, wreaths and candles, trees in every corner, with lights and ornaments, densely displayed, declared to each one who came, tidings of Comfort and Joy!
