How God Uses What Feels Like “Too Much”: A Christmas Story About Identity, Purpose, and Hark and Herald

Discover the message behind Hark and Herald and why the “too much” traits you try to tone down might be the intentional gifts God placed in you and your children.

Personal Introduction from Becky

I love reading kids’ books with my two boys (3 and 5 – you’ll see their pictures in this post!), especially the stories that hit on those messages that you need to hear, even as an adult. That was my experience the first time I read Hark and Herald to my boys.

I had to stop more than once because I was getting choked up. The story stirred up such a familiar ache from childhood and even into adulthood. So many of us know what it feels like to be told we are “too…something“.

Too loud. Too sensitive. Too opinionated. Too different. Too much.

But what if the very thing we work so hard to tone down is actually one of the intentional gifts God wove into us on purpose?

That is why I am so grateful to introduce today’s guest post from my friend, Reagan Chapman, the author of Hark and Herald. Reagan is an in-real-life friend of mine from church and her heart for helping children see their God-given gifts shines through every page of her book and every word of her story. I hope her message encourages you as much as it encouraged me.

God Creates Each of Us With Intention

My name is Reagan Chapman, and I wrote a children’s book about God’s unique gifts and purposes for each of our lives because I wanted kids to hear a message that I did not believe until my twenties. What feels like too much in you might actually be God’s gifting.

Even now, I still struggle to feel qualified to do this. I did not go to seminary. I am not a Bible scholar. I am an imperfect human who has not even gotten through every Old Testament book yet. But I have experienced the love of Christ, and my life has been radically changed by His grace.

He made us all unique and in His image. He intentionally created each of us. He gave us our own personalities and gifts, and I believe He gave me a gift of writing and storytelling.

Since childhood, I have loved stories, reading them, escaping into them, and creating my own. As a teenager, I started shoving that desire down. Who makes a living as a writer? I felt I needed to focus on college and what I would do to make money. Through some very low times in my life after graduation, God gently reawakened this desire to write and tell stories, guiding me back onto the path He carved out for me.

The Childhood Story That Inspired Hark and Herald

I did not know where to start, but He gave me a place. When my sister and I were young, my dad had an idea for a children’s book inspired by the song Hark! The Herald Angels Sing and the Rudolph story. The gist was that two angels had loud voices, did not fit in, and saved the day when Jesus was born. He never planned to write it himself, but he wanted me to write it. So I took the idea and ran with it.

Thus, my first published children’s book, Hark and Herald, was born.

What Hark and Herald Is About

Hark and Herald tells the story of twin angels who are given the gift of very loud voices from God at their birth. They grow up in heaven, struggling to fit in. They feel like they do not belong. They question their gift and God’s purpose for them. They constantly feel like they are too much.

They try so hard to be helpful and to find friends, but nothing seems to work. Just when Jesus is about to be born and they have nearly given up hope, God appears. He reveals that He had a plan for them all along. The other angels need help spreading the news of Jesus’ birth, and the people on earth cannot hear them.

Hark and Herald use their loud voices to proclaim to the world that Jesus has come. The story ends with a newfound confidence in the gifts God gave them and trust in His purpose for their lives.

Why Our Stories and Testimonies Matter

I believe stories are integral to humanity. No culture in history has been without them. This is an intentional design by our Creator. Stories connect us to one another and to our past. They are one of the ways we learn best. This is why testimonies matter.

Revelation 12:11 says:
And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

This verse shows the importance of our stories in overcoming the Enemy. By the blood of Jesus and through our testimonies of His love and grace, we overcome Satan.

The Struggle to Feel Not Enough or Too Much

I did not learn any of this until adulthood. Testimonies often become significant as we begin asking deep questions and forming our identities, especially in our teenage years. Children do not yet relate to testimonies because they are still experiencing the wonder of being kids. But that does not mean they need to wait to know God.

One of the hardest parts of growing up is the desire to fit in. I have not met a single person who was never affected by this. The feelings at the center of this struggle are often that we are either not enough or too much. They are two sides of the same coin.

Maybe you were never good enough at a sport, creative enough in art, or smart enough in school. Maybe you were constantly told to be more, do more, or change who you were. Or maybe you were too loud, too opinionated, or too much of yourself, and you had to tone down your personality to be accepted. All of these send the same message, that who you are is inherently wrong.

What God Says About Our Identity

I struggled with my identity like everyone else. I felt too loud, too opinionated, too competitive. I felt I was not enough unless I was succeeding. My worth came from performance and from how others viewed me.

But what God says is different. He knitted us together in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13). We are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). He calls us by name (Isaiah 43:7). We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works prepared beforehand for us to walk in (Ephesians 2:10).

Instead of being grateful for my differences, I tried to silence them. But my differences are my strengths. They are how He created me to uniquely serve His kingdom.

How God Uses Our Differences for His Purpose

As I wrote Hark and Herald, I realized this was the story I needed as a kid. God guided it, just as He is guiding where the story goes. Children may not connect to testimonies yet, but they learn from stories. If this story helps a child feel confident in their unique gifting and their differences, that is a success to me.

God is working through everything, and this story is simply my attempt to be a faithful servant and spread His love in the way He has called me to. My hope and prayer is that we all lean into the callings He has placed on our lives and spread the gospel as His hands and feet.

We all have different gifts because we are all different parts of the body (1 Corinthians 12). My strengths and weaknesses are different from yours, and I was made this way on purpose. It is not a flaw in my design, but one of the most beautiful ways He shines through me.

Let’s lean into our differences and give thanks that God has given us gifts that do not look like everyone else’s. Let’s give thanks this season for every imperfection He can use for His glory. Let’s feel into His love and believe that we are not too much. We are enough for Him.

Where to Find Hark and Herald

If you would like to share Hark and Herald with your little ones, you can find the links here to buy:

👉 On Amazon

👉 At Barnes and Noble