Blooming Anyway

As 2025 comes to a close, I find myself reflecting on the paradox of growth: how life rarely gives us the perfect conditions, and yet, we still bloom. This is my final blog post of the year, a prayer and intention for 2026: that we may flourish, not in some ideal future soil, but right here, in the ground beneath our feet.

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As 2025 draws to a close, my prayer and intention for the new year is simple: may we flourish where we are planted.

The conditions may not seem ideal. The soil may feel dry, the light scarce, the winds too strong. Life rarely gives us the perfect environment we imagine for growth. Yet here we are—rooted. And if we are rooted, then surely, by grace, we can bloom.

I first wrote about “flourishing” a few years ago, inspired by a sermon from Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts. Back then, I defined flourishing as growing “in a healthy and vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly congenial environment.” At the time, I thought flourishing meant curating the perfect spaces, surrounding myself with the right people, and building conditions that supported my growth.

And while that is true in part, I’ve since learned a deeper truth: sometimes we don’t get to choose the soil we’re planted in. But even in unfavourable conditions, we can still bloom.

Flourishing is less about perfection and more about faithfulness. It is less about the absence of struggle and more about the persistence of life. Think of wildflowers that push through cracked sidewalks, or trees that take root in rocky soil. They flourish not because their environment is easy, but because their design is unstoppable.

In the new year, I want to live with that same conviction: To flourish, even here. To trust God with my roots. To believe that what He has planted in me will grow, no matter what.

As Psalm 92:12–13 reminds us:"The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God."

So here’s to closing this year with gratitude and stepping into 2026 with courage. To deeper roots. To unexpected blossoms. To flourishing, right where we are planted.