The Great Wemmick Box & Ball Race

Have you done a marathon?

Once upon a time, there was a young boy named Puchinello. Puchinello lived in a town called Wemmicksville.

Just like other Wemmicks , he was made of wood. Just like other Wemmicks, he was carved by Eli, the wemmick maker.

Every year, wemmicks takes part in the “GREAT Wemmicks BOX and BALL RACE”. This is the most exciting event in the whole of Wemmicksville. Wemmicks have to carry as many balls and boxes as possible and climb the highest on the mountain to win the race.

Each wemmick in town wanted to be in the race. Each wemmick wanted to win the race to be the hero of the town. They all started practicing. Soon you see wemmicks walking around with armful of boxes and balls!

The day of the race arrived.

The whistle blew and off they went. Hearts beating fast and full of hope, each wemmick ran and ran…..wanting with all their hearts to be first on the finishing line and to be the hero of the town.

Puchinello ran his hardest along with them. But as they speeded down the field and through a hut, he lost his step and slipped. He tried hard to catch himself but fell flat on his face! His boxes and balls went flying through the air! Poor Puchinello….he was so embarrassed and sad….he lay down sprawled on the ground.

I surely cannot win now, he said, with a tear dropping from his eye. I’m hopeless as a runner, why try??? I am so tired….maybe I should just give up.

Suddenly, at the corner of his eye, he caught the glimpse of Eli, his maker. From the look on Eli’s face, Puchinello knew what he had to do. He felt new strength from inside him.

He rose from the ground to run once more. This time he decided that he would not quit. He was already so far behind…but still he gave it his all and ran and ran and ran.

At last he could see the finishing line. He crossed it….but in last place! He saw Eli at the finishing line but didn’t dare to look Eli in the face.

He hung his head low. I didn’t do well. I am hopeless. I tried but I wasn’t good enough.

You know what Eli said…”Puchinello, to me you have won. You won because when you fell, you picked yourself up again. For winning is no more than this….to rise each time you fall”. Well done my good and faithful son…I love you and I am proud of you.

Our lives is like that of a race. It has its ups and downs; we have happy times and sad times. There are times when we feel we are not such a good Christian and we have failed God. Just like Puchinello, those are the times when we fall…but the important thing to remember is that when we do fall; when we face difficult times, we mustn’t stop believing in God, stop going to church, stop reading the bible. We must remain faithful to God and not give up hope.

Eli told Puchinello it doesn’t matter whether he finished the race first or last. It doesn’t matter if he finished with 100 boxes or just 1 box.

It is the same with God, our maker. What matters to God is not how beautiful or talented or rich or clever you are, what matters to Him is for you to always remain faithful to Him.

Footnote: Character of Puchinello is adapted from the book "You are special" by Max Lucado.