about us

The Contentment Cottage blog (originally Nana Ellen’s Stories ‘n’ Stuff) has been online in one form or another for forever. Over the years, 26 of them now, there have been hundreds of changes, design tweaks and remodels. 

I started my ‘web-page’ in 1996 as an online record of each day’s special happenings in our life, it was meant to help me remember how truly blessed we are. And if, in the reading, someone else was blessed — to God be the glory! On my page I have always represented myself as an artist and a writer.  Others may disagree but by the grace of God, I am what He has made me!  I write because…to quote Cyril Connolly…“it is better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.”

I quickly fell in love with the web and worked hard to build a career designing web pages and selling art. Over the years there have been Commercial Web Pages, free graphics, handmade toys, digital and traditional greeting cards, and so forth and so on. I truly love building web pages, writing, art, and design, so there are no plans to stop doing what I love anytime soon. But I have retired.

In 2005, after forty plus years of classroom teaching, Mr. Lebsock retired and I closed the doors of Ellen Lebsock Design. Today, the Contentment Cottage Blog is my only online project (social media does not count).

People have asked, “Okay, what are you doing now that you’re both retired?”

The answer… “Whatever we want to do.”

We spend our time working in our garden, cooking, painting, writing and all the stuff we always said we’d do *someday.* If you’re interested, all of that stuff is listed in the menus. Mostly we’re just enjoying life in general.

Love shapes our life.

It has been said, “Our lives are shaped by those who love us – and those who refuse to love us.”  How true!

Life with my soul mate and husband of more than forty years revolves around our faith in Jesus Christ, our love for each other and  our home. Before our life together darkness and pain, strife and disappointment were constant companions. After we met in 1977, by the grace of God, life was reshaped, restored and healed. For both of us!

My art and writing often pay homage to my Auntie, who loved me, and showed me how to love the Lord and walk in the way of peace.

August of 2021 marked twenty-five years since we moved to the Cottage and I began Blogging. It’s hard to believe I’ve been writing here for so very long. Over the years the focus of the Blog has evolved from the things I love to the things I’m passionate about. Early on my posts and pages featured gardening and cooking and the daily minutia of cottage life. Those topics are still available, but lately most of my posts focus on inspiring my readers to build a more personal and intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and the Word of God. In 2022 the theme of the year is even more focused on that intimacy.

Along with the Blog, God has inspired me to share my passion in several books, children’s stores and inspirational pieces. These are available online, and in September I will be offering two of them in print. It’s thrilling to think my books, in printed form, make me a for-real author. Thank you, Lord for your GRACE.

We live down the lane, in a little old cottage the color of rain. It’s cozy inside, and often smells of cookies or warm apple pie. You are invited in to look around. Use your imagination. That’s what we’re all about. Things here may be simple, quaint and more than a little old-fashioned, but it’s a peaceful, relaxing place to be.

Written by Ellen Lebsock

It is my sincere hope that something you find in these pages and posts will touch your heart in some way. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and invite you to share them in the comments.