Women Who Rise

PLANTED

When a tulip bulb is planted, it’s in darkness. Packed in the dirt, not sure its purpose. There for the next one to two weeks it lies in waiting, dormant, absorbing moisture until it “wakes up.” The soil is usually only cool as summer has just ended and fall is approaching. And During the second week root growth begins from the base of the bulb. This is the most important phase for a healthy tulip.  It is there in the good soil that it begins to grow roots.

Between Fall and throughout the cold dark of winter, it continues to root deeper into the soil, even though nothing is visible above ground. It is only when a strong root system established, the snow and cold thawed out, that the shoot finally emerges from the ground and becomes visible to the outside world at which point the growth accelerates.

THE EARLY RISER

The tulip is the early riser! Its birth into the light from above the soil begins the spring. It’s the sign that better days are ahead, that the days are getting longer and warmer and the birds, bees, and tree leaves will be returning. Furthermore, there are ideal conditions for ideal root growth. The soil temperature needs to remain 40 to 55 degrees. The soil must be well drained but receiving consistent moisture. And there must be good, fertile soil.

THE LESSON

There are many lessons we can extract symbolically from this beautiful flower. First is that for the tulip to rise it must be planted in total darkness. Nothing about that season looks like growth. There is no color, no movement, no noise. Yet beneath the soil, something essential is happening.  Darkness in your life could be divorce, job loss, loss of a loved one, abusive situations, a tough season of your life where you felt numb, devoid of emotion, desperate, depressed, or absent. A time of your life where you just felt stuck, empty, the weight of the world on your shoulders. Maybe not sure how you got there or why it is happening but not ready to move. You might be stuck in unproductive space, waiting, with no clear vision forward. I always heard the saying that if you don’t know what to do, wait. I imagine that when a tulip bulb is placed in that darkness for the first time and that darkness surrounds them entirely, and the weight of the earth is places on them, they don’t know what to expect but they are just waiting.

MY SEASON OF DARKNESS

I have gone through many seasons like that in my life. One of the darkest seasons of my life was when I went through divorce. We had a horrible and abusive fight at a wedding in front of all our kids and family and it was the last straw.  I left the wedding early in a panic and went to my home and business and battened down the hatches. He had been drinking, and I was certain he would come home after me and cause some sort of destruction. I locked down everything, checked the windows and changed the codes at my office. I got all my stuff, and I moved myself down to the basement and locked the door. It was cold, it was dark, and it was like being in prison in my own home.

I was the only one who worked in my marriage. My husband was a stay-at-home dad, and I am a businessperson who made the money and was the provider. I couldn’t afford to leave the home that I was paying for and responsible for and he refused to leave, so I was stuck as a hostage in that situation and the next 6 months of my life were the darkest I had ever experienced. I was full of fear, being stalked, watched, recorded, blackmailed, and talked about.

Truthfully, I wasn’t helping myself either. In attempt to run from my problems, I put my attention into people and things that weren’t good for me. I started seeing new men before I had even had time to process things and before the dissolution was final. I was being promiscuous, drinking more and taking gummies to numb myself to the pain I was experiencing. I was in darkness, but I wasn’t giving myself the right conditions for growth. So, I sat in darkness, alone, in waiting, for a season that persisted much longer than the tulips season…

ROOTING

There was one particularly dark day when the weight of everything seemed to be crashing down on me for good. My reputation was hanging on by a thread, my life was overrun with anxiety and guilt, I started to see doubt in my kid’s eyes about me, I started to feel like I was losing all respect I had gained over the last 9 years of building my business. My ex was threatening to ruin me financially and in every other way he could. He was out campaigning and telling lies to my kids, friends, and even employees to try to get everyone on his side. He was using blackmail from situations I had put myself in after the separation trying to escape the divorce to take everything I had worked for. He was pushing for all our money, all our assets, didn’t want me to be able to stay in the house, wanted me to be homeless, wanted unrealistic amounts of child support. All because he knew how important my reputation was to me and how I try to remain in control in even impossible situations. It was very unfair and abusive, and I was enduring it mostly alone and in private with only few friends I could share it with.  I went a long walk that day, out to the woods at a park I visited almost daily, and sat by the water, and just screamed. I screamed at God, “Why is this happening? This isn’t fair! Help me! Where are you?”

And I heard God say, “Be still.” So, I prayed and I sat still. And I decided at that moment to surrender. And a peace came over me that I cant explain. I began to grow roots.  Just like the tulip needs consistent moisture to remain hydrated, our spirit needs consistent interaction with Lord to stay nourished. My spiritual life was parched at that point and I had tried everything but God to quench the thirst.

This began my journey to today, sitting here writing this blog. My life is peaceful and I am present. My life looks nothing like that day in the park. I don’t even recognise that woman I had become. God has moved mountains for me, called me out upon the water, took me to the wilderness to be with him, laid me down in green pastures, restored my soul.

But first, there was just that moment of quiet surrender.

Nobody knew. I didn’t announce it on my Facebook or tell everyone (partially because I knew I would still mess up!)

Sometimes real growth begins quietly, underground, inside, before anything is seen.

MEANT TO RISE

I was not meant to be in the dark forever. We are not meant to remain in the soil forever. When the conditions are right, the roots are deep and able to protect the tulip from the weather and outside forces, we are meant to rise. Yet beneath the soil, something essential is happening. Roots are forming quietly, deliberately, and deeply. Without that unseen work, the bloom will never come.

In the same way, women who rise are first rooted.

God often plants us in hidden seasons before He elevates us into visible ones. Darkness is not punishment; it is preparation. Soil is not burial; it is nourishment. Scripture reminds us that unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it produces much fruit (John 12:24).

 Spiritual rising does not begin on platforms or in public affirmation. It begins early, before dawn, when no one is watching.

It begins in:

*Prayer, where our roots learn how to draw from God instead of people

*Worship, which pleases God and honours him and aligns our heart with his truth

*Fasting, where our appetites are disciplined and our spirit strengthened

*The Word, where truth anchors us against shifting emotions

*Church and community, where roots intertwine and grow stronger together.

Just as a tulip establishes its root system in cold soil, a woman establishes spiritual authority in seasons that feel uncomfortable, quiet, or unseen. What looks like stillness is fortification.

Women who rise early understand this. Elevation without depth leads to collapse. Visibility without roots leads to burnout. Beauty without grounding fades quickly. But a woman rooted in Christ does not fear the dark. She knows it is temporary. She trusts the process because she trusts the Gardener.

Then when spring comes, she does not struggle to bloom. She rises naturally, supported by the work already done below the surface.

ROOTED AND RISING