Made for This

I ran into someone I hadn’t seen in over 22 years. They asked me, “Is your life wonderful?”

In the moment, I was caught off guard. My daily gratitudes usually anchor me in everything I’m thankful for, and I do feel blessed. But that particular morning I was carrying pressure and stress about my property. It felt large, pressing, hard to hold.

I’m sure she could sense the brief pause before I answered. Sometimes people notice more than we intend. Our tone, timing, the small hesitations that give something away. They notice the smallest shifts: a breath held too long, a pause that stretches, something unspoken before words arrive.

She shared something that stayed with me. She said there are flowers that bloom right before a storm. Plants that grow under extreme pressure and still manage to produce beauty. “That’s who you are,” she told me. “Look at you. You were made for this.”

Later, I looked up flowers that bloom under those kinds of conditions. Random search. The result was the pasqueflower. Often referred to as an Easter flower.

Something about that landed deeply.

I sunk in my seat as the image brought me back to the Easter story. The weight, the pressure, the suffering, and what emerged on the other side. Not bypassing the heaviness, but moving through it into something transformed. The symbolism was heavy. And I received it wholeheartedly.

It reminded me that pressure doesn’t only crush. Sometimes it reveals what can still grow. And that, in its own way, strength is formed there.