Let the skies rejoice and the earth be glad.
    Let people everywhere say, “The Lord is king!”
Let the sea and everything in it shout;
    let the fields and everything in them rejoice.

1 Chronicles 16:31-32 (NCV)

“Bloom” was my word for 2020. How ironic since I had no idea what that year would bring. Three years ago this month we were all shut up in our homes due to COVID-19. I figured I could do anything for two weeks but those first two weeks stretched out to two years. How do you bloom in the dark? I bought a few flowering plants for my patio to lighten my heart as I looked out the window during those weeks of confinement and to add some color to my dreary world.

Daffodils are a favorite flower because they are one of the earlier Spring flowers. I love yellow and their cheery faces upturned to the light make me smile.

The picture above was taken early this morning after my quiet time. I bought these daffodils a few days ago and all the buds were completely closed. A note attached to the bunch instructed me to cut off half an inch and place them in water and they would bloom. I had my doubts because I normally purchase them after a few had begun to open. But I was willing to see what would happen.

As I glanced up this morning, I noticed that several had begun to open their happy faces but a few remained tightly shut. This reminded me that we don’t all bloom at once. Our paths take different twists and turns, sometimes lined with daffodils and other times bordered with battered plants recovering from winter. Our hearts may be soft and pliable from the soft rains or hard and unbending from the storms of life. But sometimes, all we need is to soak in God’s word and let it penetrate that soil and fill us with life.  Remember, “Flowers need time to bloom. So do you.”

I was discouraged in March of 2020. I took Rusty for his morning walk and chose to notice that the flowers were beginning to bloom. It was so encouraging that I picked up my phone when I dropped him off and retraced my steps taking pictures along the way. My heart began to lift. “Where flowers bloom, so does hope.”

And now, God has given me a group of moms to love and encourage. This has been my passion for several years and I thought the time was right a few years ago. But it wasn’t God’s timing. Now, He is doing a new work and it brings me great joy. “Bloom where God plants you.”

So pick up a bunch of daffodils and watch them open. May it open your heart to the joy of God’s creation and His love for you.