Stars and Dots

A retelling of You Are Special by Max Lucado

Once there was a village of wooden people, called the Wemmicks. All the Wemmicks were crafted by a master woodworker named Eli, who lived at the top of a nearby hill.

Everyday, from morning until night, the Wemmicks went around giving each other stars and dots. If a Wemmick looked good or did something special, he got stars. But if the Wemmick looked poorly or did something stupid, he was given dots.

The Wemmicks who received stars felt so good. This motivated them to do something else that would get them more stars.

But there were also those who received mostly dots, which caused even more discouragement, earning them even more dots.

Punchinello was one of the latter. It seemed no matter what he did, he only received dots. One day he met a Wemmick named Lucia. Punchinello was intrigued by Lucia because she didn’t have any dots or stars. Punchinello approached Lucia to ask her why this was so. Lucia explained that people tried to give her stars and dots, but they didn’t stick. She told him that she went to visit Eli everyday.

“What does that do?” Punchinello inquired.

“Why don’t you pay him a visit and see,” replied Lucia, as she bounded down the road.

That night Punchinello contemplated visiting Eli. “What if Eli won’t see me? What if he sees my dots and rejects me?” Then he thought about how absurd it was for the Wemmicks to be constantly giving out stars and dots. Maybe there was something different about Eli. He decided to visit him the next day.

When morning broke, Punchinello hiked up to the top of the hill to the large workshop. Everything seems so big and for a moment Punchinello considered turning back. But then he heard someone calling him by name. He turned and looked, it was Eli, “Punchinello, I’m so glad you’re here. I was hoping you’d come. Come here – let me see you.”

Shaking a little, Punchinello approached Eli saying, “How did you know my name?”

“I know you because I created you. Let me have a look…Hmm I see you’ve received a lot of dots.”

“Eli, I can’t seem to help it, I try to be good.”

“I’m not concerned with what other Wemmick think of you.”

“You’re not?”

“No, and you needn’t be troubled by what others think either. What matters is that I created you and I think you’re valuable.”

“I am?”

“Yes, you are special because I created you.”

“Why doesn’t Lucia have any stars or dots?”

“Because she has found that what I think of her is more meaningful than what the Wemmicks think. The dots and stars don’t have to stick. If you come and visit me everyday, and begin to trust in my love, you’ll find you won’t need dots or stars.”

“I won’t?”

Eli looked deeply into Punchinellos eyes, “In time, you will see. I created you and you are not a mistake.”

As Punchinello left the workshop he pondered the sincerity of Eli’s words, just then a dot dropped off.