You are important!

I stepped out of my car in the shopping center parking lot a few days ago and on the ground by my foot was a white index card. Curious, I picked it up. On the flip side was written in sharpie across the card “You are important.” Three colorful smiley face stickers surrounded the words.

I imagined a teacher at the end of a long day, sitting at her desk writing the cards and placing them at each child’s desk. Or maybe it came from a dad who had jotted the words down in the kitchen and put it in a lunchbox during a hectic morning. It might have been shoved in a pocket and in the hustle and bustle of getting out of the car, the card slipped to the ground.

But now it appeared to me.

I placed in on the console of my car, where the little smiley faces have perked me up each time I look at it. I’ve been surprised at how uplifted that little card has made me.

“You are important.” Some days we don’t feel that way. We rush around doing our best but feel unappreciated, invisible and insignificant. Our daily tasks don’t seem to matter much. It’s the same old, same old every day.

But then we get a little reminder, a phone call or hug or thank you. We realize that in small and big ways we are important. The endless little jobs add up to a comfortable home, a pleasant workplace, an easier day for those we meet. Even if we are not aware of it, we matter to more people than we know.

“You are important.” On a deeper level, we are important because God made each of us uniquely, with a personality and gifts that belong only to us. He has a purpose for each of us and finding that meaning in our lives makes all the difference. We are important to Him.

So, if you need a Monday pick-me-up, make yourself an “I’m important” card and place it somewhere you will see it throughout your day. I’m thankful for mine!

For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well. (Psalm 139:13-14, NIV)