“Mom, look! I found more!”
Cole came running toward me, bright orange shirt clearly marking his path through the green grass. It was Saturday evening and we’d taken the boys to our neighborhood playground to work off some energy.
Just after we arrived Cole’s eagle eyes spotted a few pennies at the bottom of one of the slides. He spent the next few minutes nosing through the rubber chips of the playground floor searching for more. Nearly every time he bent down to look, he came up with another penny.
Obviously someone no longer had a pocket full of pennies.
Wherever we go – on a walk through our neighborhood, to Target, to the mall, or to a playground – Cole’s eyes are always on penny alert. It never fails that he’s able to catch the shiny copper glint alongside the road or hidden under a checkout line counter.
Needless to say, there are piles of pennies around our house, in the boys’ bedroom, clanking at any given time in the dryer, lining my purse, and scattered inside our truck. They give Cole a special kind of
pleasure, even though some consider pennies nearly worthless.
As Cole trotted up that evening, his eyes shone with excitement and his hand reached out, palm up. Inside I saw a few more copper treasures.
“Five more! That makes 12.” He was breathless and giddy, little beads of sweat lining his forehead. Chase jumped off the climbing wall and came over to join us.
“Wow, honey, that’s the most pennies you’ve ever found in one place!” I smiled, feeding off the pure joy I saw in my seven-year-old’s eyes.
As he and Chase fingered through the pile of pennies, a still, small voice moved in my heart, urging me to remind the boys of Someone.
The Blesser. The Giver of life.
“God’s really blessing you tonight, honey. He knows you love pennies.”
“Yeah. He gave me a penny blessing.” As Cole spoke, I saw pleasure wash over his face at the thought of God blessing him with exactly what he loves and enjoys most – pennies.
Lots of pennies.
Later that evening I was flipping through my Bible and came across a verse in Proverbs that reminded me of Cole’s penny blessing.
“The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow to it.” Proverbs 10:22
I thought of the clinking pile of bright pennies in my son’s hand, now stacked on the dresser in the boys’ bedroom. Although the pennies only add up to 15 or 20 cents, Cole was rich with God’s blessing. The pennies he found were special treasures from God, tokens of His love and a beautiful reminder of God’s vast, yet carefully detailed care in our lives.
The more I read scripture, the more I learn that God delights in dropping penny blessings in each of our lives. But we have to seek Him first. After all, we give our Creator pleasure when we make His word a lamp unto our feet and a light to our path, and the Bible prepares our hearts to see God for who He is and learn about His heart for this fallen world.
“And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God.” Deuteronomy 28:2
Godly blessing will overtake us when we seek our Savior’s heart and root our lives in the wisdom provided by God’s word. Only then are we truly rich.
Seek God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength, and then take care to look around. Dig through the hours and days of your life and take notice of the many penny blessings your Heavenly Father has graced you with as you reach for His heart.
Kerry Johnson 
I really love this. The way you capture child-like wonder and wrap it in a simple metaphor. God shares rich imagery through your children’s eyes. Nice that you caught it, and that you shared. =)
Great story, Kerry! It’s a great reminder to thank God for all the little blessings He gives us each day that we often forget about. Thanks for sharing!
By the way, I see you’re reading Preacher’s Bride. I loved that book! I can’t wait to get her next book.
God bless you and your family:)
Many years ago, a friend told me that because the penny says In God We Trust, it is a blessing from Him and we should always pick it up and hold it in our hand as a treasure. Today I was praying for someone I care very much for who is having hospital tests done and he is very far away. After I prayed I went to the office rest room to dry my tears, there on the floor was a bright shiny copper penny. I believe it was God reassuring me and reminding me, He is in control. Thanks for your post Nancy