Christmas Cheer!

Today I went to a little cafe in a neighboring town called Delilah's Cozy Kitchin (yes, I realize that Kitchen isn't spelled correctly, but that's part of the charm of the cafe!) and this dining establishment is owned by the radio personality, Delilah...yes, it is the famous radio woman...! I went there on Wednesday and found the main room completely decorated in Christmas attire, and the workers were all dressed in Santa's workshop clothing. The lady who runs it dresses up as Mrs. Claus, while the others dress as elves. It puts you right into the Christmas spirit right away. This was the second time I have been to this restaurant, and I wanted something to drink, so I got my all-time favorite strawberry Italian soda, which was delicious, of course. I ran into a casual acquaintance from church and he talked about how Delilah has helped him out with employment and he has been helping this little restaurant succeed. He introduced me to "Mrs. Claus," saying that I was involved with my church choir, to which she immediately responded with a, "Wow, that's wonderful! You'll have to stop by this Saturday and sing with us!" And with that, she broke out into song, singing "Mary Did You Know?" as "Mary" is my real first name.

So today, being Saturday, I stopped by the restaurant, and she had forgotten that she told me to stop by today. I had no qualms with that as I wasn't sure what to expect with it, and I'm normally not the type to just belt out into song with random strangers...unless it just so happens to be a totally awesome song, then maybe... ;-)

She took me to the shop next door, which is also owned by Delilah, and this little establishment is called the Cozy Cottage. This is where you get to meet and awesome real-to-life celebrity, celebrated around the world. He's best known for his red suit, white beard, jolly spirit, and his pimpin' ride. Yes, it was none other than Mr. Santa Claus himself!

Mrs. Claus and one of the very helpful elves were getting children and babies together with Santa to get holiday photos taken...($2 for a small, $6 for a medium, and $10 for a large--8X10 (I think? don't quote me on these prices either..hehe)) It was fun. Mrs. Claus broke out into song again and more families came in with their little ones...

So where was I during all of this? Mrs. Claus put me to work! Well, it really wasn't work as I enjoyed it, but I did provide some services to the children. I was Miss Mary, "the nice book lady" who read different Christmas stories to the children. A child would choose a book and I read it...

I believe I read Arthur's Christmas twice...and I believe I also hid it under some other books so I wouldn't have to read it again. There was a book about a camel who was having a rough time, but traveled with the Wise Men to meet baby Jesus, another baby Jesus story, as well as a book about how the Twelve Days of Christmas really came about--involving teddy bears. (Of course this was purely fiction, but it was definitely a charming story...the poor squire teddy bear won over the Princess Merrybell's heart in the end, which was a perfect story to tell to a girl named Blessing, who dawned a beautiful multi-colored tutu skirt and matching shirt).

I love Christmas. My favorite to read were the baby Jesus stories because these were books chosen by the children, so I didn't have to feel as though I was being a "Bible thumper," AND yet, I got to share the true story of Christmas with eager four and five-year -olds who are innocent in mind still, and are sponges to God's Word. They are incredible little people. It still amazes me that one person can change the lives of others...and I can only hope to be a bright light in others' lives.


It was such a blessed time today. I went not knowing what to expect. Mrs. Claus gave me a hug and said I was a blessing today. It touched my heart deeply and I felt God nudging me to go for the past couple days. I am so happy that I went...I was blessed beyond belief, and I believe that more will come from this... I will most definitely be going back for more fun and festivities again!

So, my story aside, I just wanted to share this little nugget of truth: The holiday season is about sharing love and joy...! We should make it contagious! Just utterly contagious so that everyone is infected with joy and love...Let's pass along hope! Hope is not dead...we just need to find her! That was an awesome reminder today! We must always think about the Reason for the Season so that we can overcome the stress that comes from this crazy financial time... it's about more than that!

I hope that each and every one of you dear readers can find something to remind yourselves of why you love this season...What are some non-traditional things that you like to do for the holidays?

Warm, cozy blankets and cheerful books,

Emmy