Photo by Grace Thornton.
Mark and Karen Williams are the owners of Blue Feather Candle Company. The business name was inspired by a Bible verse, Psalm 91:4, which says God “will cover you with his feathers; you will take refuge under his wings.”
Karen Williams is careful about the ingredients that go into Blue Feather Candle Company candles.
For one thing, she wants them to be great candles for everyone — clean burning, made with high-end fragrances and leaving minimal soot.
But she’s got another reason. She wants to help her husband, Mark, have safe air to breathe, because for the past several years, they’ve fought a war for his sinuses — and for his life.
At first the Williamses, who live in the Cotswolds neighborhood off Sicard Hollow Road, thought it was just a sinus infection, but over time, they found out it was something much bigger.
“This all started in December 2019. They misdiagnosed him,” Karen said, noting that soon after, he was also diagnosed with and treated for kidney cancer. “We went through six months with the doctor just kind of blowing us off and saying it [the sinus infection] was just going to take time to heal.”
But it didn’t heal. The pain in his head got worse, and they finally were referred to a doctor at UAB who told them he had osteonecrosis, or bone death.
“He told Mark, ‘You have catastrophic damage to your face,’” Karen said, explaining that her husband’s sinus cavities and upper jaw were completely destroyed. “It took our breath away.”
The surgeries began, and while doctors tried to figure out what had happened, they put him on an IV antibiotic to help clear up any infection that might be present. About eight weeks later, an infectious disease specialist at UAB called and said she’d put the puzzle together — Mark had an extremely rare fungus with a high mortality rate. His doctors admitted him to the hospital immediately, explaining the danger of the situation.
“They said, ‘If there’s one spore left, it will continue to do damage, and if it travels to the brain, it will be deadly,’” Karen said.
But they got it all out and used the fibula from his left leg to rebuild his cavities and upper jaw. In total, he went through 11 surgeries in those two years. He also did speech therapy and relearned to talk and eat.
“God’s been with us every step of the way,” Mark said. Karen agrees.
“He’s a miracle. He should be dead,” she said. “We feel so compelled to tell the story. We’re ordinary people; we don’t deserve this miracle.”
That’s how the Blue Feather Candle Company was born. It started as a distraction for her in the darkest parts of their journey, and it ended up being a way to share their story.
The name came from a Bible verse, Psalm 91:4, which says God “will cover you with his feathers; you will take refuge under his wings. His faithfulness will be a protective shield.”
The original six scents — the Journey Collection — are named for different aspects of that season, Karen said. For instance, “Stormy” is for the two and a half years of storm they walked through. “Kindred” is for the people who prayed for them and took care of them. And “Gracious” tells the story of God’s grace in their life all the way through.
Since then, they’ve expanded to offer a Southern Collection and seasonal scents.
Karen said Blue Feather’s candles are made with carefully selected, high-end ingredients and are hand poured locally.
“I chose coconut wax because it’s a clean-burning wax,” she said. “After what we had been through, I wanted to make sure it could be as toxin-free as possible.”
The Williamses will be selling Blue Feather Candle Company candles at local shows this fall, including Merry Missions at Bethel Baptist Church in Pleasant Grove, the Junior League of Birmingham’s Market Noel and the Holly Jolly Market in Moody.
For more information, visit bluefeathercandlecompany.com or follow them on their Facebook page or on Instagram @bluefeather_candleco.
