They say tulips and the Netherlands go hand in hand—from the iconic fields bursting with color to the world’s largest flower auction.
But interestingly, tulips aren’t native to Holland. These vibrant blooms made their way from the Ottoman Empire in the late 1500s.
By the 1600s, tulips were so prized that a single bulb could cost more than a house. This craze—known as tulip mania—marked one of the first recorded financial bubbles. If it were up to tulip growers, the market never would have crashed in 1637. But it did. Fortunes were lost. Still, the love for tulips never faded.
My friend Renee from Reno shared this with me recently: “I love buying tulips at Easter. This morning, I trimmed the stems before placing them in fresh water—a simple act that reminded me how important it is to do the same in life.”
She continued, “Just like flowers need a fresh cut to keep blooming, we sometimes need to let go of old habits, stale ideas, or draining commitments so we can keep growing.”
The truth is, if it were up to us, we’d skip the painful parts. We’d avoid the pruning altogether. But it’s often through those necessary cuts that new life begins.
I’m reminded of the beautiful prayer in Psalm 51:10: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”
And in 2 Corinthians 5:17, the Apostle Paul writes: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
Contemporary Christian artists Ben Fuller and Carrie Underwood capture this idea so well in their heartfelt song: “If it was up to me there’d be no gravel roads, no wounds, no blisters on my soul. Pain might come, but it wouldn’t come for me—if it was up to me. I’d take the easy ride, but I’d miss the grace that changed my life."
Renee summed it up perfectly: “Renewal doesn’t always mean a big change. Sometimes, it’s a small reset—done daily. Look up. Stay fresh. Keep blooming.”
