As part of our Church’s 47th anniversary service yesterday, Reverend Dr. Gordon Wong shared a most impactful message which touched me greatly. The hubs gave me a gentle nudge and said, ‘this is God’s word for you’. I walked away from the service deeply encouraged.

Rev. Dr. Wong shared a simple story from Max Lucado’s children’s book ‘You are Special’.  If you decide to read the story below, please read it slowly. Don’t rush it. Take your time to savor the words. You can also click on this Youtube video and listen to the narration as you read. It goes like this:

The Wemmicks were small wooden people. Each of the wooden people was carved by a woodworker named Eli. His workshop sat on a hill overlooking their village. Every Wemmick was different. Some had big noses, others had large eyes. Some were tall and others were short. Some wore hats, others wore coats. But all were made by the same carver and all lived in the village. And all day, every day, the Wemmicks did the same thing: They gave each other stickers. Each Wemmick had a box of golden star stickers and a box of gray dot stickers. Up and down the streets all over the city, people could be seen sticking stars or dots on one another.

Story credit

The pretty ones, those with smooth wood and fine paint, always got stars. But if the wood was rough or the paint chipped, the Wemmicks gave dots. The talented ones got stars, too. Some could lift big sticks high above their heads or jump over tall boxes. Still others knew big words or could sing very pretty songs. Everyone gave them stars.

Some Wemmicks had stars all over them! Every time they got a star it made them feel so good that they did something else and got another star. Others, though, could do little. They got dots. Punchinello was one of these. He tried to jump high like the others, but he always fell. And when he fell, the others would gather around and give him dots.

After a while Punchinello believed them. “I’m not a good Wemmick,” he would say. The few times he went outside, he hung around other Wemmicks who had a lot of dots. He felt better around them.

One day, he met a Wemmick who was unlike any he’d ever met. She had no dots or stars. She was just wooden. Her name was Lucia. It wasn’t that people didn’t try to give her stickers; it’s just that the stickers didn’t stick. Some admired Lucia for having no dots, so they would run up and give her a star. But it would fall off. Some would look down on her for having no stars, so they would give her a dot. But it wouldn’t stay either. ‘That’s the way I want to be,’ thought Punchinello. ‘I don’t want anyone’s marks.’

So he asked the stickerless Wemmick how she did it.

“It’s easy,” Lucia replied. “every day I go see Eli.”

“Eli?”

“Yes, Eli. The woodcarver. I sit in the workshop with him.” “Why?” “Why don’t you find out for yourself? Go up the hill. He’s there.”

And with that, the Wemmick with no marks turned and skipped away. “But he won’t want to see me!” Punchinello cried out. Lucia didn’t hear. So Punchinello went home. He sat near a window and watched the wooden people as they scurried around giving each other stars and dots. “It’s not right,” he muttered to himself. And he resolved to go see Eli. He walked up the narrow path to the top of the hill and stepped into the big shop. His wooden eyes widened at the size of everything. The stool was as tall as he was. He had to stretch on his tiptoes to see the top of the workbench. A hammer was as long as his arm. Punchinello swallowed hard. “I’m not staying here!” and he turned to leave. Then he heard his name.

“Punchinello?” The voice was deep and strong. Punchinello stopped. “Punchinello! How good to see you. Come and let me have a look at you.” Punchinello turned slowly and looked at the large bearded craftsman. “You know my name?” the little Wemmick asked.

“Of course I do. I made you.” Eli stooped down and picked him up and set him on the bench. “Hmm,” the maker spoke thoughtfully as he inspected the gray circles. “Looks like you’ve been given some bad marks.” “I didn’t mean to, Eli. I really tried hard.” “Oh, you don’t have to defend yourself to me, child. I don’t care what the other Wemmicks think.” “You don’t?”

“No, and you shouldn’t either. Who are they to give stars or dots? They’re Wemmicks just like you. What they think doesn’t matter, Punchinello. All that matters is what I think. And I think you are pretty special.”

Punchinello laughed. “Me, special? Why? I can’t walk fast. I can’t jump. My paint is peeling. Why do I matter to you?”

Eli looked at Punchinello, put his hands on those small wooden shoulders, and spoke very slowly. “Because you’re mine. That’s why you matter to me.”

Punchinello had never had anyone look at him like this–much less his maker. He didn’t know what to say.

“Every day I’ve been hoping you’d come,” Eli explained.

“I came because I met someone who had no marks.”

“I know. She told me about you.”

“Why don’t the stickers stay on her?”

“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 the stickers.”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“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 ground. “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.

This story is such an accurate parady of the society we live in…where people are quick to judge and condemn; where pursuit of status, fame, beauty and wealth consume our lives. Some days, I feel just like a Punchinello. I am enslaved by others’ perceptions of me and I shy away from hanging around people with ‘stars’ due to my insecurity and inferiority. I even doubt if I am good enough (as a wife, a Mom, a daughter, an employee). If I were a Wemmick, I would be like Punchinello with dots all over me as I deemed myself not having the brains, the looks nor the talents. But God, through this children’s story reminds me that, ‘I am special, I am loved, just because, no qualifications needed’. Once in a while, everyone of us needs to hear this reassuring truth that we are precious in His sight. We need not be a talented, well liked, smart, and beautiful Wemmick to earn stars from God (or from anyone else) because God loves us unconditionally and His grace is freely given. The more we spend time with our ‘Eli’, the more assured we would be. The hubs reminded me also that as parents, sometimes we put ‘dots’ and ‘stars’ on our kids too when what we really ought to do is to help them remove the dots the world puts on them…

This story both overwhelmed me and liberated me…it’s such a powerful tale to share with our children, to reaffirm their self-worth and value, not from the world’s perspective but from the one who truly matters – the God who created us and tells us ‘You are Mine’.

You can purchase this wonderful story, beautifully illustrated, at Amazon.com by clicking here. There is also a lesson plan to accompany this book if you wish to have more in-depth discussions with your kids.  You may also visit Max Lucado’s website for more resources.  As we start a brand new week, may this story touch your heart and set you free just as it did me.