I was in the third grade and wanted to do something special for my new teacher, Mrs. Whorton. On the way to school I noticed some little white flowers gracing the roadside. “Tomorrow,” I thought, “I will pick some of those flowers and take them to Mrs. Whorton.”
The next day I filled a shoebox with the delicate, little, white flowers. Shyly, I slipped the box onto her desk and took my seat to await her discovery.
“Who put these weeds on my desk?!” Mrs. Whorton yelled at the class. “I have hay fever! I’m allergic to these WEEDS!” She angrily brushed the shoebox of flowers into the trash can.
My tender heart was shattered. I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole.
That was forty six years ago, but the memory returned just yesterday.
Battling discouragement, feelings of insignificance, and uselessness, I poured out my heart to Abba, “Father, I want to feel useful. I want to apply the gifts you given me. I feel so hand-tied, so bound up. I’m suffocating.”
I continued my lament . . .
“Perhaps I’m fooling myself. Just like offering those flowers to Mrs. Whorton,” I wrote in my journal, “Maybe all I really have to offer is weeds.”
Immediately I felt a prompting to look that weed up. So I Googled “little white flower that is a weed,” and this is what I discovered.
Its official name is, Bellis perinnis, which in Latin means “pretty everlasting.” More commonly known as the English daisy, or the lawn daisy; some people do consider it a weed.
Further research revealed some remarkable traits about the English Daisy:
Hardy – blooms from spring to winter.
· Intricately designed -Every petal is an individual flower, and the center is made up of many tiny yellow flowers.
· A day flower –opening up every morning to the sunlight.
· Resilient – surviving a lawnmower’s cut.
· A ground hugger – stays close to its source of life, providing beautiful ground cover
· Edible – nourishing.
· Medicinal – used to heal wounds.
Then I happened upon this story about the English daisy:
. . . Rose, the queen of the flowers, had a birthday party and all the flowers were invited. One little flower, however, was shy of its modest appearance and was happy to whisper its congratulations from afar. But the wind carried the flower’s words to the queen, who assured her that there was no need to be ashamed: its dress was spotlessly white and it had a heart of gold. This made the little flower blush, and ever since then the tips of its ray-florets have been pink.
Like the story above, Abba responds to my distress, “Kinsey girl, you are no weed. You are my Bellis perrinis, my ‘pretty everlasting.’”
“I have intricately designed you, and will use you to nourish, and heal, and brighten this world with your bloom. Stay close to me; I am the ground beneath you. Draw from my life. Open yourself up to my light every morning.”
“You will bounce back when you are mowed over. Cheer up, My Sweet, for I, the King of flowers, have made you spotlessly white and given you a heart of gold.”
I blush pink from His love.
Cheryl says
What a perfect story illustrating exactly how God Himself heals us and blesses us with His love!
Pam Taylor says
WOW! What a great blog post! The power of words! So sad how quickly we can do harm … like your teacher … with our thoughtless words. Our words can be used for good or for evil. And you have used them for good here! And how beautifully our Redeemer restored you with HIS words to you personally. I loved reading this. Thank you for writing it.
Susan Fleming says
How beautiful and encouraging. Thank you, Kinsey girl.
Dr. Pamela Paul says
That is so awesome!