Sunday Faith Blog.....a penny story...and Z's penny miracle, too

I got this account Friday in an email (I told you my Sunday Faith blogs always write themselves some time during the week...I NEVER have to look up anything, they just COME) and I wanted to share it with you:
THE PENNY
You always hear the usual stories of pennies on the sidewalk being good luck, gifts from angels, etc. This is the first time I've ever heard this twist on the story. Gives you something to think about..
Several years ago, a friend of mine and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the home of her husband's employer.
My friend, Arlene, was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterway, and cars costing more than her house.
The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live. Her husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Arlene knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely.
As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant one evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Arlene and her husband..
He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment.
Arlene wondered if she was supposed to pass him.. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped, and a few cigarette butts. Still silent, the man reached down and picked up the penny.
He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure.
How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up?
Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She casually mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value.
A smile crept across the man's face as he reached into his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this?

"Look at it," he said.. "Read what it says."
She read the words, " United States of America ."

"No, not that. Read further."

"One cent?"
"No, keep reading."

"In God we Trust?"
"Yes!"
"And?.. . ."

"And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I find a coin, I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it! God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust Him. Who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray. I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as a response to God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful!"
When I was out shopping today, I found a penny on the sidewalk. I stopped and picked it up, and realized that I had been worrying and fretting in my mind about things I cannot change. I read the words, "In God We Trust," and had to laugh. "Yes, God, I get the message!"
It seems that I have been finding an inordinate number of pennies in the last few months, but then, pennies are plentiful! And, God is patient.

Z's story....Shortly after Mr. Z died, I was in church sitting in the wooden pew with a friend to my right. He'd got there earlier and settled in with his church bulletin, keys and Blackberry to his left, between us. The service proceeded...the 2 of us went to the center aisle for communion, then came back....and a few minutes later, he squeezed past me to go help pass the offering trays. At that moment, I looked to my left and was very surprised to see a penny teetering on the edge of the wooden pew. The front of the pew seat is contoured, where we sit being lower and then it rises a bit toward the edge under our knees....I thought how strange it was that a penny was hanging half on and half off when Joe had just passed me and the penny and I'd been fidgeting during the sermon as I'm want to do, and that penny hadn't fallen through any of that! I also wondered how the heck it had got there and how I hadn't noticed it in the first place because I'd had to walk past it to sit down when I first arrived and when Joe and I came back to our seats after communion! It was just too weird to find it there so precariously hanging on the edge... I picked it up....Of course, it had "In God We Trust" on it....but then I thought I should see what year it was....it was the year of Mr. Z's and my wedding. Of all the pennies in existence, only a few weeks after I lost my Mr. Z, a penny finds itself next to me hanging off the edge of a wooden pew....with that year on it, our year. Pennies from Heaven.... It felt sad. But, it also felt very good. In God we DEFINITELY trust.

"I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me." Proverbs 8:17

Keep trusting, keep seeking, and have a WONDERFUL, BLESSED Sunday.........Love, Z
z