You Are Special

   I don't know about you but I carry the weight of the opinions of others on my shoulders.  I compare myself to others to the point that I  have either made them look like dirt or have made myself feel worthless. 

  I read a book to the kids that struck something in me as well.  The book is called "You are Special" it is written by Max Lucado.

As the school year starts and words start flying and we work so hard just to be accepted by everyone around us, this is a wonderful book for us all to read. 

  It's about a little wooden puppet named Punchinello. He lives in a little town full of wooden puppets.  All the puppets are different.  They wear different clothes they are different sizes and shapes.  Some puppets are smooth and some are rough.  Some puppets have many talents and others not so much.   The only thing they all have in common is that they were all made by the same wood carver, Eli.  Eli lives on the hill on the edge of town.

All of the puppets carry around a box of dots and stars.  The puppets who were smooth and talented always got stars.  But when the puppets were caught making a mistake and doing something silly or foolish they received a black dot.

Punchinello was full of black dots.  He never did anything right.  He tried really hard to get a star.  He failed every time.  It got to the point where Punchinello just stayed home, so scared he was going to do something even more foolish, like fall in a puddle, and receive another black dot.

One day Punchinello met a girl named Lucia.  Lucia didn't have any stars or dots.  It was the strangest thing he had ever seen.  When others saw how she had no black dots they tried to put a star on her, but it fell off.  Others criticized her for not having any stars and tried to give her black dots, and those fell off of her too.  Punchinello asked how she did it.  She said, "it's easy!  Everyday I go up the hill and spend time with Eli"  Punchinello didn't understand so Lucia encouraged him to go spend some time with Eli and find out.

When Punchinello finally gets the courage to go meet his maker, he was shocked at the love that his maker had for him.  Eli didn't care about his dots or mistakes.  Eli didn't even care that he hadn't earned any starts.  Punchinello asked Eli how to get rid of the dots.  Eli said, "The stickers will only stick if you let them"


Wow.....How many stickers I have allowed to stick to me.  How many times I see my dots and spend most of my time remembering the time they were given to me and what I did or didn't do to earn them and how to get them off  or cover them up before others see them.  How many times I longed for just one star to wear proudly for all to see.  The sad part is that sometimes I tend to give others a black dot just so I can fell like I am wearing a star.  Other times I look at the stars  that others are wearing and give myself a black dot.  How I long to be Lucia,  to not care what others think about me to the point that their opinions don't stick.  To skip up the hill freely to meet my Maker only caring what He thinks of me and knowing that no matter what others think..... believing that He thinks I'm special........and to have that be the only thing that matters to me

"Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load"
                                                                                               Galatians 6:4,5

" Do not conform any longer to the patter of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- his good, pleasing and perfect will"         
                                                                                           Romans 12: 2

Don't let the opinions of others stick to you.  Don't compare yourself to anyone.  If you continue to focus on being  apart of this world, you will miss the blessings that God has laid out before you.....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opBUb3WcimE  You can view this book here.  It is a wonderful thing to sit and watch with the kids!!!