The Flourish Report

Melissa shares this week how she is flourishing.

Welcome to the Flourish Report – A curated collection of wisdom, inspiration, and things bringing the Bloom team and our friend’s joy.

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🌿 What We're Learning

My company is going through organizational changes, and I recently learned that my position is being eliminated. Having worked for a large organization for 17 years, this isn’t the first time I’ve faced something like this. The first time was devastating. I remember feeling deeply depressed, full of self-doubt, and unsure of who I was. I had wrapped so much of my identity in my career that when it was shaken, I was too.

This time, when rumors began to surface, I felt God draw me in close. In the weeks leading up to the announcement, I sensed His presence—in scripture, in worship songs, and through the people who surrounded me with encouragement and prayer. I experienced peace that didn’t make sense by worldly standards. It reminded me how much I’ve grown since the first time. I’m so grateful for the work God has done in me and how He’s helped me anchor my identity in something more lasting than a job title

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📚 What We're Reading

Say You’ll Remember Me: This is Abby Jimenez’s recent release. I read this so quickly because I just adore all of Abby’s books. It was a long-distance romance book with some hard family dynamics discussed (ex: mother with Alzheimer’s). I read this with the That’s What She Read book club – more on this later and that made the reading of it even better.

The Favorites: This was a fiction story about ice dancers and their path to be Olympic champions. It gave me a lot of Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan vibes. In concept I thought I would love this book, but it didn’t hit with me like I thought. I listened to it on audio which was fun. It is written from 2 perspectives – the main ice dancer and a documentary they did about her. Listening to the interviews of all of the side characters in the documentary made the audio version a good listen.