She Knows When to Bloom
Trusting God's Timing Isn't Always Easy
I walked into my office, aka “The Breathing Room,” to find a long-awaited holiday gift:
my Christmas Cactuses are in bloom.
“Girl, you sure know when to bloom,” I smiled. “Look at you go.”
Not all flowers bloom in Spring.
Some wait until Christmas:
Poinsettias
Norfolk Island Pines
Hollies
Mistletoe
Amaryllis (another of my favorites)
Blue Spruce
Paperwhites
to name a few.
Out of them all, I admit the Christmas Cactus is my favorite. They adorn my office and I wait for them all year.
They seem so barren and still.
Yet, underneath the surface, they are preparing to bloom.
You see, “she knows when to bloom.”
Heartlifter, deep down underneath the surface of your visible existence, something is preparing to bloom.
I know it.
I feel it in my bones.
My favorite Irish poet, David Whyte writes,
Let the apple ripen
on the branch
beyond you need
to take it down.
Let the coolness
of autumn
and the breathing,
blowing wind
test its adherence
to endurance,
let the others fall.
Wait longer
than you would,
go against yourself,
find the pale nobility
of quiet that ripening
demands…
-David Whyte, from “Winter Apple” in Pilgrim
Three essential “lean-in moments” inside this poem:
"Beyond your need to take it down.” This implies discretion and a wise intuitive spiritual sense, which grows through intimacy with God.
“Test its adherence to endurance.” This implies a God-breathed capacity to keep still while the deep-down, invisible growth takes place.
“Wait longer than you would…go against yourself…find the pale nobility of quiet that ripening demands.” This says it all. When we are waiting to bloom, we can’t rush the process. Oh, we want to. Sometimes we do. But, wait longer than you would.
P.S. Be sure to follow my Advent Glimmers, Belgium Edition, “Nonna’s Adventures in Antwerp!” I’ll be writing more intimate snapshots from my haunts and jaunts around Antwerp and my exciting new adventures as a Nonna for two granddaughters in Belgium. Let’s grow together.
Here’s to “waiting longer than we would,” this Advent season.
While you are waiting, be sure to both glimmer hunt and engage in serious glimmering.
P.S.S. If you haven’t already, visit three of my favorite Substacks:
Dandelion Seeds: Candace Rose Rardon
The Soul Minimalist: Emily P. Freeman