You are Special

One of my favorite books is You Are Special by Max Lucado.  This story is about a Wemmick named Punchinello, who lives in a village full of other Wemmicks who go around putting stickers of stars or dots on each other based on their looks and their talents.  They get stars if their wood is shinny or they can do special things.  Dots are given to the Wemmicks whose wood is chipped, who can’t do anything special, or end up making a fool of themselves.  Punchinello has received many dots and ends up feeling down about himself. One day he meets a Wemmick named Lucia, who doesn’t have any stars or dots.  It wasn’t like the other Wemmicks didn’t try to give her stars or dots, they just wouldn’t stick.  Punchinello asks Lucia why the stickers don’t stick when others try and give them to her.  She tells Punchinello that she goes and sees Eli, the woodcarver, every day and that he should go see Eli too. So, Punchinello decides to go and see Eli and find out for himself why the stickers don’t stick to Lucia.

I feel like in some ways we are all like Punchinello but strive to be Lucia.  We all want to do and be our best.  We want to be recognized by others for the good we’re doing, and that’s normal.  But sometimes I feel like we define ourselves based on what others think of us instead of defining ourselves based on what our Heavenly Father thinks of us.  I know that for me I tend to let other people define me or I define myself with labels that stick to me like the stickers in the story.

 What do these labels look like?  They look different for everyone based on each person’s unique journey.  For me, some of my labels include: “expensive,” “perfectionism,” “not smart enough,” “not talented enough,” “too many medical problems,” “always be happy,” “I’m a burden to others,” “I don’t deserve the same things as other people,” “I don’t deserve to be loved the way I am,” “not a great communicator,” and “not good enough overall.” 

Labeling ourselves is one of the worst things we can do, yet I feel like we all do it even when we know we shouldn’t.  I am guilty of doing this and I do it all the time.  I tend to care more about what others think of me and that causes a lot of weight on my shoulders and it affects how I think, what I say, and what I do. I don’t give myself enough credit for all the good things that I’m doing or all the things I have conquered and overcome in my life. I know the adversary likes it when we’re hard on ourselves, when we don’t think we’re good enough.  He loves to see us struggle and works so hard to get us to forget who we really are, children of God.

Towards the end of the book, You Are Special, Punchinello goes to see the woodcarver, Eli.  He gets to the workshop, gets nervous and turns to leave when he hears Eli call his name. Punchinello asks, “You know my name?” Eli responds, “Of course I do. I made you.” Eli picks Punchinello up off the floor and sets him on the bench. Eli recognizes that Punchinello has a lot of dots.  Punchinello apologizes for having all the dots and Eli says, “Oh, you don’t have to defend yourself to me, child. I don’t care what the other Wemmicks think.” “You don’t?” replies Punchinello. “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 asks Eli why he’s special since he can’t do certain things. Eli responds, “Because you’re mine. That’s why you matter to me.” Eli goes on to explain that Lucia comes to see him everyday and that the stickers don’t stick to her because she has decided that what He thinks of her is more important than what the other Wemmicks think of her.  Eli tells Punchinello to come and see him every day and then leaves him with these final words, “Remember, you are special because I made you. And I don’t make mistakes.”

I love this story because it relates so well to each and every one of us. I feel like we sometimes get lost on our journey through this mortal life. We are constantly bombarded with the noise of the world and we can get caught up in thinking that we’re not good enough. We put labels on ourselves and we start believing those labels, which in turn affects how we think and the things we do. Just like the woodcarver in the story, we have a Father in Heaven who loves us more than we can ever comprehend. He doesn’t like to see us hurting.  He doesn’t want us labeling or comparing ourselves to others because He created us to be the unique individuals we are.  He wants us to care more about what He thinks of us than what others think of us.  I know that each one of us is special to our Maker because He made us, and He doesn’t make mistakes.