God Knows YOU… By Elizabeth Bricknell
Published Aug 4, 2025
I listened intently and watched proudly from the audience as Megan, a graduating senior, shared her testimony in front of the entire school. She hailed from California and ended up at this tiny Christian college in Oregon – not the least bit interested in the ‘Christian’ part of the college’s name, but rather for the softball scholarship she was offered. As she bravely told her story, she marveled at how intimately God knew her — how God would use softball, her passion, to draw her to Himself. While she attended solely to play sports, she encountered Jesus for the first time on campus as a Freshman and became a Christian not too long after.
I’ve referenced Megan’s reflections of God’s personal pursuit often over the years, marveling over God’s personal pursuit and the unique ways God reminds me I’m seen and loved. I’ve recalled Megan’s words again recently as a childhood dream has begun to resurface.
Summers in southern Oregon beckoned me to the field behind the home I grew up in, where I ventured outside with a pair of garden shears. Eventually I’d bound up our porch steps – my socks covered in burs- with a fistful of Shooting Star wildflowers. I’d plop them in a vase on the counter, admiring the pointy purple petals every time I walked by.
Upon a visit back ‘home’ about eight years ago, I posted a picture on Facebook of a vaseful of flowers I had freshly clipped from my parent’s property, fondly reminiscing on the wildflower-picking of my youth, and half-heartedly dreaming about a future arranging flowers.
This spring, nearly a decade later, this flower dream is becoming a reality. I experimented with a bouquet bar to raise money for a local non-profit. My friend provided flowers from her garden and we set up buckets of fresh blooms, assembling bouquets in real time for attendees. We raised money and I was in flower heaven for the evening. Admittedly, I never expected it to transpire into anything other than a ‘one and done’ event. And then my gardener friend called me, noting that graduation season was upon us, and wouldn’t people like bouquets? The next thing I knew, she had proposed a business partnership where I could arrange the flowers she was growing and we could sell bouquets to our local community.
A few days later a different friend texted (who knew nothing of my floral endeavor), stating she had over 200 canning jars to give away and would I want them? She called them canning jars, but all I heard was ‘vases’ so I emphatically said “yes!” followed by “I think God just dropped a floral business in my lap.” And just like that, I started selling bouquets and booking events for the summer.
All of this was on the heels of some significant, unexpected employment changes for my husband and I. Just a week prior, overwhelmed by our growing financial needs, I sobbed on our patio steps with my face in my hands. I knew God recognized my cries as a petition for provision – something I’ve done a lot of over the years through pastoral ministry and non-profit work. I just couldn’t see beyond our need. And then, this gift from two separate friends with flowers and jars.
That evening, as I went for a walk with my daughter, I relished in God’s kindness and couldn’t help but smile. The God who created me with a passion to create was opening doors for something I had dreamed of since I was young. And it wasn’t just enjoyable— it was also helping fill a financial gap. What a sweet reminder that the God of the Universe sees me, has a good plan for me, and shows up in wildly personal ways.
What struck me most is this: God doesn’t just meet our needs (a softball scholarship, a form of income). God meets our needs and then some — He goes beyond! God satisfies our deepest desires through a relationship with Jesus and reminds us that He knows us intimately because He created us. (Psalm 139)
God delights in pursuing us in ways only He can, weaving ordinary passions into extraordinary reminders of His goodness. For me, it’s flowers. For Megan, it was softball. For you, it may be something entirely different — something so uniquely “you”. My prayer is that you’ll notice it, and marvel in it, too.
