A penny for your thoughts.

A couple of days ago, I was cleaning out my closet. I found a lot of things that I won't bore you with, mostly singular items I had "misplaced" like socks and earrings. One item in particular though, I found an excess of. Pennies.

I found pennies on the floor, in the bottom of purses, and lining the edges of plastic tubs I used when I moved a year ago. I made a pile and decided I would deal with it when I was done cleaning. When that time came, however, I wasn't sure what to do with them. I was tempted to dump them back in the bottom of a drawer. In an attempt to have an organized closet, I decided that would be an unacceptable choice. Instead, I found a small "bank" shaped like an elephant a friend had brought me back from India. It had been displayed on my bookshelf for months, but I had forgotten it's original function. The pennies from my closet filled the small elephant to the brim.

When I was younger, I had several piggy banks (they were shaped like pigs, not elephants just to clarify). In them I placed any spare coin I could find. As a 7 year old, cash, coins in my case, was king. For some reason, I found joy in dumping all the coins out, counting them, and then filling my pig once again. We eventually would trade the coins in for cash, but not until I had saved enough pennies to make an unnecessary purchase on the toy aisle at Target or Walmart.

Now, since I use a debit card for most purchases, I find coins to be somewhat of a nuisance. They come in handy for some things, like purchasing 75 cent drinks at Quik Trip in the summer. Even still, I am referring to silver colored coins. Who wants to count out 75 pennies for the convenience store cashier (I don't recommend this unless you want a dirty look from the person in line behind you)?

I am guilty of throwing away a penny a time or two and vacuuming up my fair share as well. Please don't scold me. I know it's bad.  Most of the time though, I leave them where they are, ignore their value, and decide I will deal with them later.

Last week, I was out on a volunteer site to take pictures for work. These particular volunteers are out every Wednesday and have come to expect me stopping by to take photographs of the progress they make on their projects. Our conversation usually consists of them explaining construction terms to me, talking about the current weather, and me being scolded for wearing ballet flats on a construction site.

Last Wednesday however, one of the volunteers got on the topic of his faith and soon realized I was a believer too. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a penny and handed it to me. He said he keeps a handful of these in his pocket to give to special ladies such as myself.

This, however, was not an ordinary penny. Right in the center, there was a hole in the shape of a cross. The volunteer looked at me and said, "God is good, isn't He?" I quickly agreed. He then told me that volunteering reminds Him of that fact each week. "The Lord is good. He gives us things to do and shows us people we should help."

I walked away toward my car thinking what great perspective this man had. I then began to wonder how many opportunities to help and serve others I miss out on because I don't look for them, brush them aside, or think they are too little to make a difference.

Whether I choose to recognize it or not, pennies have value. One penny may only be worth one cent, but multiplied, pennies added together can make all the difference.

It is easy to give small opportunities to serve a "penny's" glance. We ask ourselves if the small things we do can really make a difference. We sometimes get overwhelmed thinking about the world's problems , decide we can't make a difference because the dent we would make would be so small, and instead of acting, push these opportunities to the side of our mind in a "pile" to deal with later.

What would happen if we began to look for these opportunities that are so easy to overlook?  What if the things that we think have small value have the most value in God's eyes?

I don't think God has called any one particular person in the world to end world hunger, end poverty, and implement world peace on their own. I do however, think we forget that we as believers are all a part of one body that works together.

1 Corinthians 12: 27 says ^"Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." 

Though we may feel the impact we can make on our own is small, we have to remember that the small workings of many aren't so small any more once they are added together.

God places different opportunities in front of each of us to serve Him and others each day. The opportunities I see will be different than the ones placed in front of you. You have the opportunity to make a difference in the day and life of someone else that perhaps no one else will. No matter how big or small the opportunity may be, the Lord has given it to you. You just have to choose to see it. 

I know I need to stop vacuuming up my pennies. You don't have to tell me twice. I know they have value. Even more so though, I want to make a conscious choice to open my eyes to notice the small things God places in my path each day. Opportunities to love and chances to serve. Things that shouldn't be brushed aside to deal with later.

I don't ever want to forget that those things that have little value in the eyes of man and appear to be only specks on the sidewalk of humanity, when looked at through they eyes of the Lord, are magnified in value beyond what we can imagine.