In Bloom🌻

Have you ever planted a flower? When you start with a seed, it’s tiny—almost unremarkable. You place it in the right soil, water it regularly, and make sure it gets enough sunlight. You might even add a small barrier to protect it as it grows, keeping away anything that could damage it.

But here’s the question: do you go outside and force the flower to bloom? If it’s meant to bloom in spring, do you trudge through the snow in winter trying to rush the process? Of course not. You understand that growth takes time and that the flower will bloom when it’s ready.

The same is true for us.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2,11 (NIV) says:

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time:

We don’t need to force ourselves into timelines that don’t fit. We don’t need to have everything figured out by a certain age or stage of life. For many people, life is still unfolding—they are still growing, still becoming. Some don’t truly “bloom” until their forties, fifties, or even later.

And let’s challenge the idea that life has an expiration date on success or purpose. It doesn’t. Many well-known figures didn’t find their stride or start their most impactful work until later in life.

It’s also important to remember that we don’t have to succumb to the pressures of the world around us. Just as a plant can be overwatered, we can overwhelm ourselves by giving in to cultural pressures and societal expectations that push us to bloom before our time. While ambition is valuable, so is learning to nurture ourselves right where we are—growing steadily before stepping fully into who we’re meant to be.

Growth isn’t a race. It’s a process—and it happens in its own time.

You are in bloom, and you will blossom at just the right time🌻