All day long, 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 dull gray dot stickers. Up and down the streets
all over the city, people could be seen sticking gold stars or gray
dots
onto each other. The pretty ones, those with smooth wood and fine
paint, always got shiny gold stars! But if the wood was rough or the
paint was chipped, the Wemmicks gave dull gray 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 shiny gold 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.
There were many other Wemmicks though that could do very little. They
got dull gray dots! There was one little Wemmick and his name was
"Punchinello." He tried to jump high like the others, but he always
fell.
And when he fell, the others would gather 'round and give him dull
gray
dots. Sometimes when he fell, it would scar his wood, so the people
would
give him more gray dots. He would try to explain why he fell and, in
doing
so, he would say something really silly. Then the Wemmicks would give
him some more dots!!!
After a while, Punchinello had so many dots that he didn't want to go
outside.
He was afraid he would do something dumb such as forget his hat or
step in
the water, and then people would give him more dull gray dots. In fact,
he
had so many gray dots that some people would come up and just give
him one
without any reason!
"He deserves lots of dots," they would say.
The wooden people would agree with one another. "He's not a good wooden
person," they would say.
After a while Punchinello believed them. "I am not a good Wemmick!"
he
would say. The few times he went outside, he hung around other Wemmicks
who had a lot of gray dots. At least he felt better around them.
One day, Punchinello met a Wemmick who was unlike any he'd ever met.
She
had no dull gray dots and did not have any shiny golden stars either.
She was a
wooden Wemmick and 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 to her!!!
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 they would not stick 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."
Punchinello asked,"Eli? Who is Eli?"
She replied "Yes, Eli, He is the woodcarver. I sit in His workshop and
spend
time with Him."
He asked Lucia,"Why do you do that?"
Lucia told him, "Why don't you find out for yourself? Go up the hill
and visit
with Him. He's there!"
And with that, the sweet little Wemmick named Lucia turned and skipped
away.
"But He won't want to see me!" Punchinello cried out to her. Lucia didn't
hear
him, as she was too far away. So Punchinello went home. He sat near
a
window and watched the wooden people as they scurried around giving
each
other gold stars and gray dots.
"It's just not right," he muttered to himself. Then he resolved to go
see Eli
after all. Punchinello walked up the narrow path to the top of the
hill and stepped
into the big Woodcarver Shop. His little wooden eyes widened at the
size of
everything. The stool was as tall as he was. He had to stretch on his
tippy-toes to
see the top of the workbench. A hammer was as long as his arm. Punchinello
swallowed hard and thought to himself, "I'm not staying here!" and
he turned
to leave. Then he heard his name.
"Punchinello?" said this voice, so deep and strong.
Punchinello stopped. The voice said, "Punchinello, oh how good it is
of you to
come! Let me have a look at you."
Punchinello slowly turned around and looked at the large bearded craftsman
and
said, "Sir, you know my name?"
"Of course I do. I made you," Eli said. All of a sudden, Eli stooped
down and
picked little Punchinello up and set him on the workbench. "Hmmmmm,"
the
Maker spoke thoughtfully as he inspected the gray circles all over
him, "Looks
like you've been given some bad marks."
Punchinello explained,"Oh, Eli, I didn't mean to; really I didn't!!!
I really tried
hard not to."
The Maker said, "Oh, you don't have to defend yourself to me, my
child. I don't care what the other Wemmicks think."
Punchinello asked, "Really? You don't?"
Then Eli said, "No, and you shouldn't either. Who are they to give stars
or dots?
They are Wemmicks just like you. What they think really doesn't matter
at all,
Punchinello. All that matters is what I think. And I think you are
pretty special."
Punchinello laughed, "Oh, me special? How can I be special? I can't
walk fast.
I can't jump. My paint is peeling. I make silly mistakes all the time
and I am not a
beautiful Wemmick like some of the others. How could I matter to you?"
Eli looked at Punchinello and put his hands on those little wooden shoulders
of his
and spoke very slowly, "Because Punchinello...you are mine. That's
why you
matter to me."
Punchinello had never had anyone look at him like this before or say
anything so
nice, much less his Maker! He didn't know what to say!
"Punchinello, every day I've been waiting and hoping you would come
to see me,"
Eli explained.
Punchinello looked up at him and said, "I came because I met a sweet
Wemmick girl
who had no marks."
Eli said, "I know. Lucia told me about you."
So Punchinello asked, "Why don't the stickers stay on Lucia?"
Eli said, "Because she has decided that what I think is more important
than what anyone else thinks. The stickers only stick if you let
them."
Punchinello looked puzzled and said, "What?"
Eli said, "Yes, the stickers only stick if they matter to you. The more
you
trust My love, the less you will care about those stickers."
But Punchinello said, "I'm not sure I really understand. What you are
saying?"
The maker said, "You will, but it will take some time. You've got a
lot
of marks. So for now, just come to see me every day and let me remind
you how much I care about you."
Eli lifted Punchinello off the bench and set him on the floor. "Now
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 each time he remembered what Eli told him and each time
he went to visit and talk with Eli, one of Punchinello's dots would
fall off.
They kept falling off and soon they were all gone!!!
So like Punchinello, we must remember one thing: "Man looks on the outward
appearance, but God looks on the heart." (I Samuel 16:7)
--Author Unknown
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