Winter Into Blossoming Into Freedom

Reflecting on this last decade…

There were long stretches that felt like winter: uncertain, quiet, even disorienting at times. And yet, over and over, I sensed the Lord whispering the same thing:

“Just do the next right thing. I have you. I’m holding you with both arms.”

Recently, I learned something that stopped me in my tracks…

The Hebrew word for winter, when reversed, spells 'blossoming'.

What a picture. 🥶 ➡️ 🌸

A reminder that every season, especially the ones that feel barren, carry both purpose and promise. That at the end of a cycle, there will be flowers that bloom and fruit that yields.  🌺 🍎 

Even more beautiful…

The Hebrew root meaning of “blossom” carries the idea of becoming the flying ones, a picture of freedom and maturity. 🕊️

And the root word of “winter”?

Means 'betrothal', pointing to a season of deeper intimacy, of being drawn closer in trust and union with Jesus… even when nothing outwardly seems to be blooming. 

These were my winters.  Not necessarily absence, but more than that, it has been an intimate invitation over and over. "Come away with Me, Van."

And it brings me to this promise:

Jeremiah 29:10–14…

A popular passage we often quote, but rarely sit inside of.

God speaks to His people in exile, people whose lives didn’t look anything like they expected or wanted. And He says, essentially, "When the time is complete, I will come to you. I will keep my promise.”

He reminds them, and us,

“I know the plans I have for you… plans for peace, to give you a future and a hope.”

But here’s what’s striking…

The word “know” (yada, used 1000x in Bible) isn’t intellectual or just an idea, it’s experiential.

To 'know' God is to encounter Him with your senses and experiences. 

And the Hebrew meaning of the word “plans” isn’t rigid or fixed. It's used about 120x in the Bible. It carries the meaning of a reckoning and new ideas. 💡 

Which means…

God is not handing us a static blueprint. Ah, hope rises just writing that out. 🎈 

He is actively, creatively, personally unfolding new expressions of His goodness in our lives daily. This makes my heart swoon! 💞

His plans may shift and adjust into new ideas… But His purpose does not. 

His purpose is singular and steady:

That we would be formed into His image. That we would become one with Him.

So in the winter… we are being betrothed. And from that place of intimacy… we emerge blossoming. 

❤️➡️🌹

Free.

Mature.

Fruit-bearing.

Becoming people who don’t just rise…

But who also help others lift their eyes to the One who knows them intimately too. So that they could intimately know Him too. 

The One who holds new ideas, new mercy, new invitation for each and every one of us! Can you feel your hope rise reading that? 🎈 

And then there’s this…

The Hebrew word “future” in this passage can carry the sense of “what comes after” coming from the meaning "backwards afterwards" almost like sailing forward while looking back.  I have felt this so deeply. But the Lord has gently retrained my gaze, to not just relive or analyze my past, but behold His history with me. ⛵️

Isn't that true? Because the truth is… We don’t actually see the future.

We step forward by what God has already done, and only in hindsight do we see the path He was faithfully unfolding beneath our feet.

We sail into the future guided by the testimony of His faithfulness in our past. This puts a groove in my heart! 💓

History with God becomes our compass. 🧭 Wisdom holds both what has been and what is promised, both history and vision. 

And this is where peace comes from.

Because when God spoke this to His people, His plans didn’t match their expectations at all. Their world felt unstable. Their identity felt shaken.

And still… He invited them to trust Him.

To release certainty…

And choose confidence in His character and His heart postured toward me instead. I can still recall how deeply I once longed to know this, and how grateful I am to now embody it. 

So when I reflect on this last decade, what often felt like a large detour has been much more of a deeper rooting.

A winter of becoming…

That was quietly preparing me to blossom into freedom, fruitfulness, and deeper union with Him. 🕊️ 🍇❤️

God wants to override our uncertainty with deep relational trust in Him…  ❤️ 

*The kind of trust that lets us rest in His arms before we ever understand His plans.

*Where being held matters more than having it all figured out. 

At 50, this is where I have ended up. Where I no longer demand to see the path, because I've fallen in love with the One who leads it. I no longer grip for clarity, but keep surrendering to the One I love and who already holds all the outcomes.  🕊️ 

Jesus, may my uncertainty fully lose its voice and may your presence continue to be the loudest voice I live by.  I love you. You are worth it all. 💎 

To the King! 👑