I read a story to my kids last nite – Max Lucado, think he is also American.
There’s a Punchinello inside most of us, isn’t there? An urge for others’ approval, a drive to be like the rest of the crowd, a need to show off all our “stuff.” The little wooden fellow we first met in “You Are Special” learns a hard but essential lesson about “stuff” in his new adventure, You Are Mine.

Boxes and balls. They were the latest thing! Fancy balls. Colorful boxes. All the Wemmicks had them. All, that is, except Punchinello. Not wanting to be left out, he resolved to fit in. He would do whatever it took to have what others had. Eli, his maker, used the moment to remind Punchinello of this truth: “You are special, not because of what you have, but because “you are mine.” Only when little Punch falls into the hands of his loving creator, Eli does he discover he is loved absolutely, positively just the way he is.
Made me think of all my boxes and balls – and how hard it is to maintain them all once you’ve got it! TO keep up with everybody else!