Bumper stickers that matter

So promise me you’ll never forget ... that you aren’t an accident or an incident ... you are a gift to the world, a divine work of art, signed by God. You were knit together. You weren’t mass-produced. You aren’t an assembly-line product. You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted and lovingly positioned on this Earth by the Master Crafts-Man.

-- MAX LUCADO

“Did you ever think that God could get your attention through a bumper sticker?” my friend asked me.

I looked at her smiling face, smiled back at her, and answered, “I guess I’ve never thought about it, but I know that God can get our attention any way that he wants. But you certainly have my attention, so tell me about this bumper sticker.”

“Actually it wasn’t a bumper sticker,” she said. “It was written on a license plate frame, and it said, ‘You matter to God.’ Just those four little words got my attention because I’d been feeling pretty down about myself lately. I figured God probably didn’t like me all that much either. I felt depressed, and then I looked at the car ahead of me at the stoplight, and I looked at its license frame and saw those words: ‘You matter to God.’ I read them again and again, until the light changed. I kept thinking about what it said, and I felt better.”

“That really is amazing,” I said in response. “Not the part about you mattering to God because you do, and it’s important that you truly believe that. You do matter to God, and you matter to me too. The amazing part is that I saw a license frame just like that last weekend, and I read it a few times because I liked the message too. I also noticed that it had the name of a church at the top, which seemed fitting.”

“Well, I don’t remember if there was the name of a church on top the frame that I saw,” my friend said, “but I loved the message, and the timing was just perfect for me.”

I hugged her and told her that maybe we needed to buy that frame for her.

I told her that not only does she matter but also that she is loved.

I came home and found the quote at the top of this column, called my friend and read it to her. We all need to know, deep down inside, that we matter and that we are loved and that we are a divine work of art, signed by God.

And you can quote me on that.

* CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON is a Newport Beach resident who speaks frequently to parenting groups. She may be reached via e-mail at cindy@onthegrow.com or through the mail at 537 Newport Center Drive, Box 505, Newport Beach, CA 92660.

20060121gzir0kke(LA)