red doors

I have a confession to make. I have a new obsession. I think it may be driving my friends crazy...or at least getting a little annoying to them. Whenever I am out driving I'm on the lookout, and whenever I spot this thing I feel the need to point it out and talk about how much I love it...especially to my hubby, who does not really care one iota. The object of my desire? Red doors. I love them. A lot. They just look sooooo welcoming and cozy. Like they beckon to passers-by about the warmth and laughter found within them. I imagine going through those doors to find glowing candles and warm cookies and cups of steaming tea.



My one friend just bought a new house and she has a red door. I've told her many times how much I love it. I've gushed about it in the comment section of her picture of it on Facebook. I may be freaking her out a little bit...like she might be getting worried she'll wake up one morning and find her lovely red door gone and the hole just boarded up. If this would happen, I know she would know it was me. Because, in case I haven't said it, I love red doors.

However, my front door, which is really an 'okay' door in itself (talking design, not color - it's current color is plain old, washed out white), is hidden by a hideous, old metal screen door. The kind with the screen in a little scalloped frame at the top and had a big 'ol black X painted on the bottom (which is also faded). Not lovely. Not welcoming. Just faded and old. However, according to my very practical husband, this door is just that...practical. It is solid and helps keep the cold out in the winter, and the dog can't bust through the bottom of it should a jogger happen by on a warm summer day (as could happen with a full screen door). But still. I actually like the look of no screen door at all. However, I do so enjoy having my door open in the spring/summer months, so I do agree that I want something there. But I still am trying to argue my point that the dog could be trained to not jump at the door. (If this still is a problem, I'm not opposed to using a baby gate to keep her away. But I am still sticking to the thought that she's trainable.) Secondly is the cost. I've asked hubby if I can somehow find a free one if he would agree. (I'm thinking freecycle at best, or at worst, saving up my babysitting and craigslist pennies and getting one from a building surplus store. Still not coming out of the family's monthly budget.) I believe his response was simply a grunt...which I do not take to mean a concession at this point. Looks like we're still in deliberation over this one.

And so I pine. And gaze longingly whenever we pass a lovely red door. Today, I happened upon some info online as to if there was any significance to red doors. I found this, and I must say, I feel a renewed resolve that, come spring, my door will be undergoing transformation. I love pretty things; pretty things with significance really puts me over the top:

In the earlier days of the church it was understood that a soldier could not pursue an enemy that had entered through the red doors of a church. The red doors were a symbol of refuge and sanctuary for all people who entered. To all concerned the red on the doors signified the blood of Christ that had been shed so that all who came to him could be saved. Anyone who passed through those doors was safe as long as they stayed behind them.

Over time, Christian people began to see the red doors of the church as symbolizing not only physical refuge and safety, but spiritual refuge as well. The blood of Jesus, and of the Church’s martyrs, that the red doors of the church symbolized, would protect you from evil, both physical and spiritual. The red doors spoke to the world of holy ground that existed inside those doors, space that had been purged and made clean by God’s Holy Spirit. Today people choose to paint their church doors red for many of the same reasons that churches did centuries ago.

Ooooo, come on warmth weather!!! I'll be ready with paint and brush in hand for when it arrives!!!