Gold Stars & Gray Dots

There is a children's book by Max Lucado called, You Are Special. I have never read that book to my kids, without tears streaming down my face. I would recommend it to anyone of any age...timeless truth!

In this story, Punchinello, a Wemmick (wooden boy) from Wemmicksville, is struggling with his identity. He spent much of his time looking around at his fellow Wemmicks, thinking that everyone was better than him. (sound familiar?)

Although his maker, Eli, the Woodcarver, reminded him frequently, that he was special, just the way he was made to be, he listened to the voices telling him he wasn't.

The Wemmicks spent their days doing the same thing, They gave each other stickers. If they did something amazing, or if they were particularly beautiful, they would get gold star stickers. If they tripped on their feet, said something silly, or just didn't have their act together, they got gray dots.

This practice left Punchinello covered with gray dots, because he was a clumsy Wemmick, who frequently forgot his hat, or scratched his paint.

After awhile he didn't want to go out in public because he had so many dots! (yep, this is sounding like my life. What about yours??)

One day, Punch goes to talk to Eli, the Woodcarver, about his dots.

This is how the conversation went:

"Hmm...looks like you have been given some bad marks, Punchinello."

"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."

Eli goes on to explain to Punch that he was made to be special for who he was. He tells Punch that the only reason the stickers stay on him, is "because they only stick if you let them."

Punch didn't understand, and asked how to not care what others think about him. Eli told Punch that he needed to walk up the hill everyday and visit His maker. The more time he spent talking to the One who made him, the one who thought he was special, the less it mattered what the other Wemmicks think.

I share this, because it is so similar to our lives...my life.

Instead of stars and dots, we give and receive "labels". We get up in the morning, look in the mirror and label ourselves as "Fat/Skinny/Cute/Ugly". We go to work, school, to Bible Study, and say something we regret, and we label ourselves as "Stupid/Ignorant" or on the flip side-we are praised for giving a good speech, and we label ourselves as "Brilliant/Smart". We bump into someone as we walk out of a door, knocking their coffee everywhere, and we label ourselves as "Clumsy/Accidental". Or we are complimented on those cute shoes we are wearing, and we label ourselves as "Adorable/Fashionable". We find out that someone we hung the moon on, has let us down, and we label ourselves "Abandoned/Unlovable/Rejected"

We spend much of our time walking though life, giving and receiving Gold Stars and Gray Dots.

My stars say things like, "Creative, Wordy, Happy, Likes To Have Fun, Caring, Merciful, Hospitable (Betty Crocker)...."

My dots are, "Chatty Kathy, Procrastinator, Fat, Terribly Clumsy, Misunderstood, Unorganized...."

Some dots and stars are self-stuck...meaning that I give myself plenty of the labels to carry around. But I am consumed way too often, with the dots and stars that others stick on me.

I am reminded that in order for me to not "let them stick", I have to walk up the hill, and get on my knees before my Maker, and Redeemer. I have to talk to him about my dots and stars. I have to get quiet, and let Him tell me that He finds great delight in me...and then it starts to make sense.

What if instead of Stars and Dots, when others look at me, they were to see God's Truth? What would my life look like, if that is all I sought after...what God says about me?

I am a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)

I am forgiven (Eph. 1:7-8)

I am complete (Col. 2:9-10)

I am secure (Rom. 8:31-39)

I am free (Rom. 6:18)

I am sheltered and protected ( Col. 3:3)

I am dearly loved (Col. 3:12)

I am God's treasure (1 Peter 2:9-10)

I am God's friend (John 15:15)

and last but not least....

I am God's Workmanship-Ephesians 2: 10

"For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."

I think it is high time, that I live and act (and believe) as if I am God's Masterpiece! Does anyone care to join me...it could be an adventure!

"You Are Special" by Max Lucado, 1997

Spring into Everyday Living!

I am always looking for new ways to enjoy God's world and creation, that are simple and can be enjoyed over and over again. I found these in my Life: Beautiful Magazine and thought my blog friends might enjoy them as well.

BRINGING SPRING INTO EVERYDAY LIFE:

*Plan an outdoor sunrise breakfast and Bible reading for yourself and one or two others.

Pack a wicker basket with fresh fruit and cheese, a thermos of tea or coffee, bottles of juice and water, a few croissants and a blanket or two, then head to the beach (I wish) or park. Share what God is doing in your life, currently!

*Go for a leisurely bike ride or walk on a path lined with blooming flowers and trees.

*Fly a kite with your kids and don't worry about what time it is.

*Sort through your closet and sell, donate or discard what you don't use or need. Then organize the rest by color, style, use, ect.

*Plant a garden. If you don't have space, plant a window box or patio planter.

* Visit farmers' markets for locally grown produce. Pick out a bouquet of fresh flowers while you are there.

* Take a trip to a local nursing home or assisted living center. Make someone's day with a pretty bunch of tulips or daisies.

*Sample new vegetables and fruits. Check farmers' markets for food you have yet to try, and ask the seller for ideas in perparation. Jicama, artichokes, various peppers and a host of heirloom tomatoes may be a few taste pleasers you have yet to enjoy.

*Learn a new sport or craft.

*Re-arrange your furniture for a fresh new look on a limited budget. Switch furnishings from different rooms for a more dramatic effect.

*Host a neighborhood seed exchange.

*Send and email or note to someone you haven't talked to for some time. Let them know they are in your thoughts.

*Go for a walk to clear your mind and enjoy the moment. Make this a daily habit.

*Go to a local park and play a pick-up game of basketball or H-O-R-S-E. The kids would love this!

*Start a daily journal.

Give Her the Reward She Has Earned

For a little over a week now, I have attempted to write this post, and every time the lump in my throat would overrule my ability to type out my thoughts.

For the first time in my life, I am a girl without one of my two Grandmothers. On March 6, my Grandma Thelma Horn, died.

Grandma Horn has suffered for a long time with Alzheimer's, and in the last year, had become very confused about who I was. It became harder and harder to visit her, because she didn't know me from the lady who emptied her trash can.

We have known for a few months, her time on this earth was getting shorter and shorter, but what I didn't know was how hard it would be miss her.

There is a certain "peace" about having those who have known you all your life, around. Now she is gone, and as the days pass by, I find myself needing to grieve her passing.

I was blessed to spend much of her last two days on earth, with our family, by her side. We sang 'How Great Thou Art' and countless other old songs we found in her homemade song book. We sat around and browsed through her Recipe Book, and remembered all the delicious things that came out of her kitchen! We cried and prayed, and held her hand...assuring her that she was free to go home.

After her passing, we became busy with funeral plans. Practicing songs we would sing, and going to the funeral home to see how pretty and peaceful she looked, kept my mind occupied. Her funeral was beautiful...just as she would have wanted it, and the family reunion that occurs at events such as these, was good.

Then it was over. Her earthly body is resting out in a crowded country cemetery, while her spirit is with her Savior.

And I woke up the next day, acutely aware that I only have one Grandmother left on this earth.

I wouldn't call Grandma Horn back here (as if I could) for anything! She is not a diabetic anymore. She is not an Alzheimer's patient or a stroke victim anymore. Her ruptured disk in her back is no longer causing her excruciating pain. She can hear. She can laugh and smile. She can sit at Jesus' feet. (I'm jealous!)

So, I am here, left with a boat-load of good memories, and a desire to never forget all the positive things I learned from her. I am left with her example, and a desire to carry on what she started. I am left with her recipes, and a desire to make her Lemon Drizzle Cake...the best in the west!

Just a few of the things Grandma taught me:

How to roll out and cut biscuits

How to make an apple pie

How to dust first and then vacuum

How to brush my hair 100 times every night (I don't do that anymore)

How to scare the hens off their nests, so I could get to their eggs (I don't like chickens!!)

How to milk a cow (never as fast as her)

How to tie the cow's tail back, so she wouldn't smack me with it, while we were milking her

How to pick vegetables out of the garden at the right time

How to draw a cat

How to snap beans

And much more....

Proverbs 31:31 states, "Give her the reward she has earned, and let her good works bring her praise at the city gates."

I miss her, but her legacy of love and faith will live on in me, and I will pass it on to my children.

(In the picture above, Grandma is letting me help her open her Mother's Day gift. I can remember that she got new gold drinking glasses. I think I was about three years old)

Bringing Spring In

Spring is on it's way! I know, we are still going to have cold days, but I am starting to feel the excitement of newness! I am feeling the nudge to do my Spring Cleaning....which means that on the next really warm-ish day we have, I will be thowing the windows open, grabbing the cleaning supplies, and waking my home up from it's long Winter's nap!

A Beautiful History

"Whenever you run away, whenever you lose your faith, it's just another stroke of the pen on the page. A lonely ray of hope, is all you need to see, a beautiful history" (Beautiful History, Plumb)

When all is said and done...will those I leave behind read a 'beautiful history' ? That thought is pounding around in my head tonight, after listening to this song.

I will be attending the funeral of a elderly great-aunt tomorrow, and her life and death have caused me to ponder for a week, what it means to live and end well. What I keep coming back to, is, that one cannot just decide at the very end to 'end well'. Ending well starts long before the end.
It starts at a point, where you become aware that life is not about what you do for yourself, but what do you do that will leave an imprint on others, for good. It starts with investing, not your money, but yourself. It starts with realizing that life has dealt you pain, but what you do with your misery, matters. It starts with taking the joy in our hearts and sharing it.

Ending well, is all about living well!
Did I love? Did I show mercy and compassion? Did I speak kindly? Did I laugh easily, and weep when it hurt? Did I work hard and play harder? Did I give endlessly, from a heart that cared? Did I take the rocky paths of my life, and lead my children to The Father, who never left my side? Did I point others to the Great Comforter, Who had held me as my heart ached?

We are all going through things that will be written on the pages of our story, and those who read it will see our pain, our joys, our failures and our acheivements.

Those reading my story, will read about the times when I lost my way, and then how God came along and set me back on the right path. They will read about the days when I didn't have a stitch of faith that God was there...but they will then read further, and they will have no doubt that He was! They will see the part fear played in my life, and the hope that replaced that fear! All strokes of a pen on the pages of my life.

I want more than my next breath, for my life to count for Christ! I want to leave a legacy of hope......I want to live well and end well!
I want to leave a Beautiful History!

To hear the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuyAynr6WOk