In the Quiet

 I love flowers. I love the way they smell, the way they bloom – the silent unfurling of fragrance and color.

Some of the best things in life happen slowly, quietly, with little fanfare.

Like the way I fell in love with my husband over months of phone calls, long drives, and twilight walks. There was a gentle revealing of deeper layers, a gradual intertwining of hearts, until one day I realized I never wanted to say goodbye.

And years later, the growth of new life inside me. Little bodies being knit together in the quiet dark. Secret forming of souls and personalities, beautiful girls who will grow to be women full of purpose and passion.

The other day while we were running errands, my preschooler asked from the back seat, “Mom, what did Jesus do with my sins?”

“What do you mean, sweetie?” I wanted to be sure I understood what she was really asking.

“When I was in bed, I asked Jesus to live in my heart, and he sent the sin out. Where did he send it?”

I was not at all prepared for this quiet confession of a faith so simple even a three-year-old can understand.

Taking a deep breath over the lump in my throat, I answered her question the best way I could. I’m not sure exactly when my little one took her first soft steps into the kingdom of light, but God knows, and angel armies rejoiced.

It makes sense that the tiny seeds of faith in a young heart would bloom in the silence.

After all, the most pivotal event in history occurred in pitch black stillness, hidden away from human eyes.

    Death lost.

    Life won.

    Jesus rose.

Life here can be full of noise and chaos, but it’s in the deep, still places of the soul that fragrance and glory unfurl. Sometimes it takes a while to be seen.

The intertwining of our hearts with the Lover happens gradually over seasons of blessing and desert. It happens one prayer at a time, one moment of surrender, one song, one verse… Growth cannot be rushed or forced.

Slowly the old things fall away, and we unfold little by little into fragrant glory.

Death loses.

    Jesus wins.

“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
~1 Corinthians 15:55 (NLT)