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Book Title: You Are Special
Book Author: Max Lucado
Dear Max Lucado,
In 1997, my parents gave me your book, You Are Special, as a Christmas gift. I was eight at the time and loved story books. My mom read it to me
different times on countless occasions, but as you can imagine, being eight, I merely began to grasp its true meaning. How could a child so young even begin to comprehend the way society measures a person’s value?
Recently, I was sorting through some old boxes and stumbled upon the book. It had been years since I’d read it, so I decided to do so once again. I sat down on
my couch cuddled up with a blanket, and then proceeded to read the works aloud and study the pictures. I focused on the Wemmicks covered in stickers soaking it all in. As I finished the last page and the covers met, a whole new understanding was born
inside me. It was like I’d cracked a case, uncovered a mystery, unveiled a dark secret. I understood.
Sometime during my early teen years, I began to struggle with vanity. I started to receive compliments, and the made me feel good! I accepted the “gold stars”
offered to me. After a while, the stars dictated how I measure my value. If I ever slacked off and didn’t have my makeup just right or my hair just so, I’d receive a “gray dot,” and naturally, took it to heart. I constantly felt the need to live up to
this image that had evolved in my mind. An image of beauty and perfection. An unattainable image. Like Punchinello, I allowed the stickers I received to deceive me and tell me who I was. Little did I know that the opinions of mere people didn’t even
matter. Why was I not consulting the one whose very hands created me? He alone could tell me how much I was truly worth.
Eli sums it up well when he tells Punchinello, “The stickers only stick if they matter to you. The more you trust my love, the less you care about the
stickers.” When I stopped comparing my “stars” and “dots” and began to listen to the one who truly knows, just as Eli said to Punchinello, my maker said t me this: “Remember, you are special because I made you, and I don’t make mistakes.” Wow! How
awesome is that thought, the thought that the God of the universe created me, and created me exactly the way I am, which is in his eyes, perfect! What more reassurance do I need?
I’ll be honest, I still struggle. I want to please people and be accepted by them. But when I’m let down, and let me assure you that I am, I’m always sent a
divine reminder—“Who are they to tell you your worth?” And with that thought, a sticker falls to the ground.
Yours in Him,
Autumn Myers |
