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. 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.
Sometimes when he fell, it would scar his wood, so the people
would give him more dots.
He would try to explain why he fell and say something silly, and
the Wemmicks would give him more dots.
After a while he 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 another dot. In fact, he had so many gray dots that some
people would come up and give him one without reason.
"He deserves lots of dots," the wooden people would agree with
one another. "He's not a good wooden person."
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 Lulia.
It wasn't that people didn't try to give her stickers; it's just
that the stickers didn't stick. Some admired Lulia 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," Lulia 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. Lulia 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.
written by ~ Max Lucado
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