You are Special.
“We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
One of my favorite stories growing up was You are Special by Max Lucado. Although this was written for children, I have carried its message with me well into adulthood. The story focused on the Wemmicks, small wooden people carved by a woodworker named Eli. Throughout their life, the Wemmicks went about giving each other stars and dots. Those who received stars were popular, talented, and pretty. Conversely, those who received dots were looked down upon by the other Wemmicks.
The story followed a specific Wemmick named Punchinello who received a lot of dots over the course of his life. He was clumsy, scratched, and believed that he was a bad Wemmick. However, one day Punchinello met a Wemmick who was unlike any he’d ever met before. She had no dots or stars. She was just wooden. Her name was Lucia. Although other Wemmicks tried to give Lucia stars or dots, the stickers simply didn’t stick to her. “How could this be?” Punchinello wondered. Punchinello soon learned that everyday, Lucia went to sit with the woodcarver, Eli. Punchinello decided to visit Eli to see for himself how Lucia did it. The conversation below outlines the interaction between Eli and Punchinello.
“Everyday I’ve been hoping you’d come,” Eli explained.
“I came because I met someone who had no marks,” said Punchinello.
“I know, she told me about you.”
“Why don’t the stickers stay on her?”
The maker spoke softly. “Because she has decided that what I think is more important than what they think. The stickers only stick if you let them.”
“What?”
“The stickers only stick if they matter to you. The more you trust my love, the less you care about their stickers.”
“I’m not sure I understand.”
Eli smiled. “You will, but it will take time. You’ve got a lot of marks. For now, just come to see me every day and let me remind you how much I care.” Eli lifted Punchinello off the bench and set him on the floor. “Remember,” Eli said as the Wemmick walked out the door, “You are special because I made you, and I don’t make mistakes.”
Punchinello didn’t stop, but in his heart he thought, ‘I think he really means it.’ And when he did, a dot fell to the ground.
Our identity lies not in how the world evaluates us, but instead in how our Maker values us. God knit each of us together in our mothers’ wombs for a specific purpose, and He loves each of us deeply. It is through spending daily time with Him that our eyes are opened to our true identity and purpose on this earth.
My prayer is that today, neither the stars nor dots of the world will stick to you. Like Punchinello, may you spend time with your Maker today and experience the depth of His love for you.
Written by Paige Rigsby
“For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ”
“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well… all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
“Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”