The Yellow Door Life

For years, I’ve dreamed of opening a craft business with my Mom. I don’t know where that dream really began, but I knew buried within me was the desire to create things that people would cherish. 

Prior to my move to Tennessee, I started researching what opportunities would be available for a business like ours in Columbia. I figured there would be craft fairs we could do, but was pleasantly surprised to find several options for having our own booth space. Rent seemed fairly reasonable at most places, and I knew that we would find the right one once we settled into our new town. 

The first time we walked into Baxter’s Mercantile of Columbia, Mom and I were both overjoyed. Immediately, we were greeted by friendly people and so many goodies, we couldn’t decide what to look at first. 

As we began our initial journey through the store, I found a picture of a mule wearing glasses. Being a resident of Muletown now, I figured I needed something with a mule to grace my walls. The lady working offered to hold our items at the front counter and I happily handed her the mule picture I found. I kept moving through the store, wandering off on my own as I usually do when shopping, and came to a hallway lined with original paintings by a local artist named Sarah Bernhart Tipton. 

Immediately my gaze settled on a beautiful painting of a mule, with a cardinal perched on his head.

*Side Story*

The day my Dad died, I spent a lot of time looking out the window that overlooked my back porch. It was what I was doing as some woman I would never actually meet told me over the phone that my Dad had died. 

I became fixated at that window, as if staring through it would change his fate and my broken heart. 

I prayed and prayed for a sign to come through that window and after a couple hours a blue jay landed on my bird feeder. 

My Dad loved blue jays. 

I let that be my sign and I survived the rest of the day that was my Dad’s death. 

My first day at my home in Tennessee, I was greeted in the morning by a blue jay landing out in the yard, but he was not alone. He had a cardinal with him. I had never seen a cardinal before and looked up their significance, only to find that they are a message from Heaven. 

After looking at this adorable mule and cardinal painting, I kept moving through the lower level of the store and just began to feel overwhelmed. I saw yellow. I saw cardinals in every room I entered. I saw things that reminded me of Dad. I heard George Strait playing on the radio. And I knew.

I walked back out into the hallway, grabbed the mule and cardinal painting, and took it up front to the register. I shared with the lady working my story, cried, and asked her if I could swap this painting for the one I had already saved. She cried too. 

At that moment, I knew my crafts were going to be in Baxter’s Mercantile some day. 

Fast forward to the end of February. On a day where the only thing I planned to do was run to Kroger for a few things, Mom and I ended up stretching our legs (and wallets) at Baxter’s. 

We made our way through the whole store and landed on the second floor. I noticed one of the rooms upstairs was half empty. Do they finally have an open booth space? I wondered. 

After having found exactly the items we didn’t know we needed, we found ourselves at the register paying. I inquired to the man I had never met before if that was in fact an open booth space upstairs. He said yes. Turns out he was also one of the owners. We had a great conversation and I told him I would think about renting it.  

Truth was, I never needed time to think about it. I knew I wanted it. I just needed to convince myself I could handle it (and that my craft supplies were well enough stocked to make it a reality). 

Two days later I told him we wanted it and later that week it became official. 

I don’t believe in coincidences. I believe we land exactly where we are supposed to, at exactly the time we need to. I never planned on shopping at Baxter’s that Saturday morning, but if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be one of their vendors now. 

I have to believe it’s just another place that Dad helped me get to, just like Tennessee itself.

It’s definitely one of the scariest things I’ve done, putting my art out there, but I pray that it’s just another part of the puzzle falling into place as it should. 

Our little booth is still a work in progress, but I’m so excited at what it will become. It’s modeled after my front porch and of course the yellow door that inspired it all. With black shutters, pops of yellow, and a whole lot of hope, the booth reminds me that when you work hard and have faith, doors open as they should.