Grow in the Darkness

Face Your Trials and Rise Up!

Each of us has an understory that is our own, the battles we face beneath the surface of our days that no one sees. This is a fragile place where life grows in secret, away from the sun’s bright rays.

-photo from pexels

Before a tree grows toward the sky it needs a foundational growth period underground within a bed of dirt. Where worms roam and leaves decay making the soil more nutritious for a seed to take root.

Drawing upon the seed metaphor—growing in the dark becomes a vital growth period for us—as darkness is all consuming we face our greatest trials. And it feels as though we won’t make it out alive. Like roots unfurling through layers of dirt, we grow in mysterious ways.

When we’re in it, we don’t know what’s on the other side. That a big sky does in fact exist shining its warmth and light. Perhaps we grow in the dark because our identity needs time to establish. As we face our battles inside acute incubation, our resilience is tested and forged.

I share this with you…contemplating my understory. The years I spent in the dark with nothing to show, waiting to do so much more but feeling pressed under gravity’s force.

What a battle it was to keep going. In this time, I kept writing, journaling, and working on a book idea. I faced my battles in the quiet unknowns amid my questions. I didn’t realize that each day I was getting stronger, my heart and soul becoming more rich with depth.

When I was growing in the dark I didn’t understand what God desired of me or my life…what was he working out in me? I felt useless as I couldn’t see my talents or gifts and how to implement them.

In a sense I was spinning in circles like a labyrinth that spirals deeper into its center, this is where I went. I can’t say for sure what came of it other than I see the evidence of growth; branches outstretched brimming with new buds.

I hope you know you’re not alone in the trials you face. It might feel murky at this present moment but hang in there in whatever you're working towards. The effort you’re making matters!

I have big news I want to share with you!

A project is underway. As a self-published author I learned how to publish my poetry books and market in a competitive industry. In the process of becoming an author—I realized my dreams, overcame obstacles, gained confidence, and along the way developed a passion for self-publishing.

I want to pour this passion into helping others publish and make their book dream real. So I’m hard at work creating a 2nd publication titled, Self-Publishing Swim School. I invite you to check it out and read the intro post here! If this interests you, please subscribe.

In the elements will stay the way it is! I will continue to write and create a beautiful publication for you to enjoy!