I'm just sayin'

So, this morning I read the book, You Are Special by Max Lucado. Its a great children's book that I have seen have an impact in many adults lives as well. Here is my favorite excerpt. It is a story about small wooden people made by a carpenter, Eli who lives on a hill above their village. Every day the little wooden people give each other either stars or grey dots depending on what they think of the other wooden people. Well, one Wemmick (as they are called) named Punchinello only had grey dots and lots of them. He went one day to Eli, and this is a bit of what transpired.


"The stickers only stick if them matter to you. The more you trust my love, the less you care about their stickers."

"I'm not sure I understand"

Eli smiled. "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 though, I think he really means it.

And when he did, a dot fell to the ground.


I read this story for the first time out loud to my mentor when I was a freshman in college. It had quite in impact. Well, when I read it this morning I was touched by these words thinking on them and praying about how I really want to walk in who I am as a child of God. After I read the book I proceeded to do my workout and stopped a few minutes into the cardio when I realized I was thinking about how my highschool reunion is in October. I thought the next few months would be a really good time to get in really good shape and the reunion would be a good deadline. I stopped ubruptly and couldn't finish my workout. Wasn't I just praying about how God made me who I am, He doesn't make mistakes, and He thinks I am beautiful. I am thankful that as quickly as I forget God's words, He doesn't give up on me and I am always able to come back to Him and hear Him remind me of what He has already told me five million times...a day sometimes.

An update on the house search this weekend. It was discouraging, I'll be honest. I know there are better houses out there than what we saw because I've been to my friend's houses and seen where they live. Almost every house would need either completely remodeled bathrooms or kitchens. I'm all for the kitchen because I have a dream kitchen in mind that Dan is on board for.

There was one house that was a Tutor style cottage near the water that would have been great, we fell in love with...well, all but the about 50,000 dollars (our estimate) of remodeling; new siding, shingles on roof, kitchen, bathrooms, carpet, maybe a wall moved, knocks down the sunroom. We aren't going to buy it, we've let that daydreaming turned future nightmare to rest.

It did however help Dan and I come to a big realization. We love working with our hands and seeing a finished products. I like cleaning, yard work, painting, decorating. Dan loves yard work, building stuff, doing house stuff like tiling, wood working and stuff like that. Well, we've always applied that to our own life doing stuff for our house, building book shelves for ourselves. It finally accured to us last night that God gave us this passion and drive for a reason, in a manner of speaking further His kingdom, not just build up our castle. There is so much we could do to help others using our passion and hobbies but we don't because we're always helping ourselves. It was really convicting to come to that realization. So, our house search has been modified a bit. Maybe a house that needs only a little TLC and as a result a lot more time to be more of a friend, a neighbor, a minister to those around us. Habitat for Humanity is always a good route. We both agree that would be an awesome place to start.

One last thing. I have totally fallen in love with chai tea with vanilla adding a little creamer and sugar. Delicious! I highly suggest it.