Cosy Christmas Cottage
The Cosy Christmas Cottage came into being on the 256th anniversary of William Carey's birth. William Carey was born August 17, 1761. On the 17th of August, 2017, exactly 7 hours after finding out I would need to move from my beloved studio, GOD led me to what would become known as the Cosy Christmas Cottage. It was 6:52pm. (You may read this story "7 Hours Exactly" on my Lampposts and Lollipopps Blogg, or listen on The Great GO! Christmas Show!)
Cosy
cosy: giving a feeling of comfort and warmth,
a soft covering to keep a teapot hot
I chose the English/British spelling of COSY
in honor of William Carey and Twining's Tea!
who both hail from England, along with CS Lewis,
whose "CS" matches COSY, along with Sam Caster
and Charley Sisson, my maternal grandfather, and of course,
the SC in Secret Church and the CS in Christmas!
Christmas
Good news of Great joy for All people!
"Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people!" Luke 2:10
Cottage
a small, simple house
Cosy Christmas Cottage
In CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe (my very favorite of the 7 wonderful books!) the white witch had made it "always winter and never Christmas" but when Aslan was on the move, the snow melted into spring and Father Christmas returned, bearing gifts and cups of tea for the children and the beavers. (If you don't know this story, it's a great 17 chapter read, and I encourage you not to miss out on this timeless treasure!) Drawing from this story, and Jesus' words in John 16:33, "In this world you will have trouble. But be of good cheer! I have overcome the world!" I decided that the Cosy Christmas Cottage would be "always winter always Christmas!" because Jesus has come and overcome and is coming again, so we can be of good cheer no matter what winter we face. The comfort and joy of the gospel is what I share with Cosy Christmas Cottage guests, and what I endeavor to share with all peoples everywhere--from this cosy little corner of the world.
Loblolly L'abri Chai'let!
L'abri Fellowship is a ministry that has been in my life from my earliest memory. Founded in Switzerland in 1955 by Francis and Edith Schaeffer, L'abri (a French word meaning 'shelter') is a place of beauty, truth, hospitality, work, rest, refreshment--for people from every walk of life and every nation to come find truth, life, hope. The Schaeffers (Schaeffer means 'shepherd') wanted their guests to see 'the GOD who is there' and to witness Him in their lives and in the world. So do I. My Mother visited the English L'abri in 1979 and I spent 5 weeks there in 1997. I grew up loving Francis and Edith and always imagined having a L'abri type ministry of my own one day.
Loblolly
Loblolly is a pine tree native to Arkansas, chosen as our state tree by the 52nd general assembly on June 23, 1939.
L'abri
L'abri is a French word meaning shelter, and is a picture to me of sheltering/covering people in prayer and providing hospitality with come'pass!on.
Chai'let!
Chai'let! is a word that I crafted as a spin off the word chalet (a small Alpine dwelling) which emphasizes the idea of L'abri: shelter.
Chai'let! sounds like Chai (as you pronounce the tea) Lay, as you would say chalet, the same way you would say 'Lay your head on my shoulder.'
Chai is an Indian word for 'tea' and a Hebrew word for 'life'!
L'chaim! To Life! Chai'let! Tea Life!
