letting in the light

During our thirty-five years of marriage, we have had the privilege of building three houses. In two of those homes, we had a friend create leaded glass door surrounds. She is quite an artist, and she has the most charming Southern accent, combined with an animated and enthusiastic way of speaking. Plus she is a former teacher, a grandmother of triplets, a gracious hostess, a community leader, a style setter with her clothing, and even a great cook. So how she has time to do these huge projects, as well as the many smaller pieces she creates, is beyond my understanding. What energy! What a talent! How fortunate we were to have her do these for us.

The house we live in now we did not build. It needed some TLC when we purchased it, and there have been numerous projects that needed our touch in the nine years we have lived here. Some were crucial for the well-being of the structure, and we started our work with those.  Others were more aesthetic, and they came later in the process. Our front door was one of those subsequent undertakings.

The door itself is solid wood with a beautiful carved design – probably the most handsome door we have ever had. But around this door were narrow sidelights and a transom of plain glass. The light could come in, but it wasn’t stylish or even pleasing to look at. So we called our friend and asked if she could, once again, work her magic for us.

It is as unique as the other two she created, and just as wonderful. This time her husband, the owner of a building supply store and a talented pianist himself, came and installed it (rather than our builder, as was previously done). That in itself was a treat, because she had lots of advice for him as she sat on our stairs and watched him work. He ignored it all as if he didn’t hear her. He finally said, “I know what I am doing here,” and even though he may not have done it just as she said (after all, with all her talent and hard work, she has never installed one herself), it is perfect.

This is what our front door looks like now from the inside of our front hall:

And in the morning, when the sun shines through, this is the enchanting sight on the wall opposite the door:

Look closely and you’ll see that it really is magical:

A combination of God’s bright light and our friend’s talent. We feel very blessed in our home sweet home.