Over the past week, we’ve been faced with the grim reminder that racism, hatred, fear and depravity have yet to be eradicated from the human race. The question that we all face now is: How do I respond?
Some of us will march, others will hide.
Some of us will speak out, others will shut down.
Some of us will change our perspective, others will hope this just goes away.
I don’t know what you will choose. But I do know this:
Each of us is responsible for our response even if our response is to do nothing.
This isn’t political and I’m not at liberty to judge anyone else’s path through this. But one thing I CAN do is take full responsibility for what I do next…especially as a parent. And that’s what I want to talk about. Because what we do right now as parents can change the future.
What am I TELLING my kids?
What am I SHOWING my kids?
What are THEY going to come to believe?
Our responses are directly tied to what we believe. And what we believe is often tied to what we’ve seen or heard from our parents.
Think about this - in 20 years, your children’s beliefs and behaviors will have been shaped largely by what you say and do right now. They will remember the summer of 2020.
Deep breath. Time to saddle up.
So, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to what I believe and what I want my children to believe. And here’s what I’ve come up with:
Worth is GIVEN by God, not DECIDED by man.
Now, my kids are 7 and 8. So, those are just words, until I find a way to illustrate. Thankfully, Max Lucado, already took care of that for me when he wrote the book, “You are Special!” I hope you’ll allow me to share a bit more about it…
“You are Special” is a well-read TREASURE on our bookshelf. It wasn’t around when I was a kid, so the first time I read it was after college graduation. It’s about the town of Wemmicksville where a community of Wooden people, called the Wemmicks, live. Each Wemmick is carved with great care by the woodcarver, Eli. And each day, the Wemmicks spend all day doing one thing – giving one another stickers!
Gold Star stickers are given to the Wemmicks that are seen as lovely, talented, powerful and strong. Grey Dot stickers are placed on the Wemmicks who are deemed “lesser” wooden people. Some of them have different colored paint…or even chipped paint! They’re judged by other Wemmicks based on their outward appearance and perceived lack of “desirable traits.”
One particular Wemmick, Punchinello, has mostly grey dots. And all those dots have crushed his spirit. One day, Punchinello meets a Wemmick named Lucia who has no stickers at all! Punchinello is confused. He asks her why the stickers don’t stick to her so she encourages him to go see Eli, the wise woodcarver….
Punchinello has never met Eli before. But he is welcomed into Eli’s shop and lifted up onto the workbench by this “larger than life” yet tender man. Eli looks at Punchinello and tells him he thinks he’s pretty special. Punchinello laughs “Me? Special? Why? I can’t jump. My paint is peeling. Why do I matter to you?
Eli smiles compassionately. And then He responds. “Because you’re mine, Punchinello. That’s why you matter to me.”