Lights...

Who knew there were so many choices in light fixtures? My head is spinning over here with the wonder of it. Out yonder, the crew is taking down walls and I'm tucked into my little office-oasis looking at every conceivable size and shape of glass and metal ready to be mounted-hung-suspended way on down the road in this renovation. You might say I'm getting the cart before the horse. But I have recently learned that some sort of lighting plan has to be in place way before you screw in the first cool white bulb. Before the cabinets, the flooring, the paint... you gotta know where the lights are going to go. And what kind of lights they're going to be. There has to be a big picture in somebody's mind. I've heard tell some folks actually write this kind of stuff down - draw it out neatly and to scale. Steve and I sat at the Rucker John's the other night eating spinach salad and hoppin' john soup and got to talking about the lights. I had a pen in my purse and he grabbed a half-soggy cocktail size napkin and made some x's on a sketch that sorta looks like the new floorplan and viola! Lighting plan. Done. This was followed up by several field consultations: Honey, come in here and point where you think you want the light over the (imaginary) dining table to go. And so far, things are going to plan. At least we think so.

Funny thing about plans - the really, really detailed ones are nice. Things often turn out just the way they're supposed to. For some things, a precise plan of action is absolutely non-negotiable. Like building a house from scratch or brain surgery for example. Those people got to know the next move or the outcome is potentially disastrous. But if you have a good framework in place, you can afford to point and shoot some. Be a little flexible and intuitive about things. And you might just get some nice little surprises along the way. Like I found this light fixture that is a Moravian star. How cool is that? I thought there were just paper or plastic ones to hang on the porch at Christmas. I spent some wonderful years in Winston-Salem and came to love those simple creamy white stars. I have the one Mama hung on our porch. I did not have an inkling that they even made them out of glass that you could hang up year round - inside the house to boot! But now that I know I can get one on the internet, I'm gonna see if I can work that into the plan!

Point being... most of us started out with an idea of what we thought this life was going to be like. Some vague, some incredibly intricate. But I have never met anybody that had it turn out exactly like they expected. Never. If you know one, they are a unicorn. And maybe a teller of white lies. It. Just. Doesn't. Happen. But that doesn't mean there aren't wonders to be found all along the way. Big surprises. Little gifts. Twinkly light caught in glass cages that reminds you of a once-home-town. And Mama's porch. Framework is important for sure. And without it things surely fall apart. But you get that nailed down and let the expectation-balloon go, some really nice things just may come along. Blessings in disguise, Mama used to say. Serendipity, some call it. Layer after layer - grace upon grace. What was meant to be emerges from what was planned on. And we are our better selves for it. Braver than we dreamed. More beautiful than we imagined. Awe-struck and shined-on. Beloved. Selah.