One of my favorite books when I was a kid was ‘Chrysanthemum’ by Kevin Henkes. If you’ve never read it, it’s about a little girl named Chrysanthemum who loves her beautiful, long name until she goes to school and the other kids tease her about it.

I think about this book every time I see Chrysanthemums & the other day I started thinking about how the story relates to each one of us. How many times have you loved something, whether that’s an item of clothing, or the way your nose crinkles when you smile, only to have the world laugh & smirk & mock you for it? I’m sure we’ve all had our moments in life when we felt like we didn’t measure up to everyone else & like Chrysanthemum, we’ve wilted.

Sometimes it feels like you’ll never be good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, talented enough. It can be hard to be different, to stand out. Isn’t it sad how we let the opinions of others affect the way we see & feel about ourselves?? It’s natural to want to belong and fit in, but you should never change who you are based on what someone else thinks is ‘normal’.

Everyday after school when Chrysanthemum came home upset, her mother and father would comfort her. Saying things like, “Your name is beautiful. And precious and priceless and fascinating and winsome. It’s everything you are, absolutely perfect.” I can’t help but compare that to God’s love for us. When you don’t fit in, when you fail, when you can’t see the beauty in yourself, when you don’t feel like you’re good enough and when you’re hurting, He is always there to comfort you & tell you that you are so much more than what you, or anyone else, sees.

When you give your heart to God & allow Him to make you into the person you are meant to be, a powerful transformation will take place. You will begin to realize that it doesn’t matter what she thinks or what so-and-so says about you. The only opinion of you that really matters is God’s. He is the only one that truly knows you and the desires of your heart.

“Behold, I speak with boldness, having authority from God; and I fear not what man can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear.”
-Moroni 8:16

God knows the wonderful potential you hold and how positively amazing you are. You do not have to do anything to be worthy of God’s love, He will always be there at the end of the day, telling you, “You are beautiful. And precious and priceless and fascinating and winsome. You are absolutely perfect.”

Never let someone else’s opinion stop you from blooming into who God created you to be. May we all find the unique beauty in ourselves just like Chrysanthemum.

She blushed.
She beamed.
She bloomed.
Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum.

Many hugs,