Pennies From Heaven

I was going to say years ago, but as I think back, it was decades ago that I read a book of essays about the spiritual life. One of the essays reflected on finding joy and wonder in everyday, seemingly insignificant things. In the essay, the author remembered the joy she felt as a child when she found a penny on the sidewalk. What a surprise to find something unexpected and valuable as though God placed it in the path just for her. She then used the idea of a penny from heaven as a metaphor for such events in life.

Once when we were on vacation, our son who was eight at the time kept finding change everywhere we went. A penny here, a dime there, he even found a fifty-cent piece. By the end of the week, he had a total of $2.57 in found change. In the way that only an eight-year-old can, he pronounced the vacation a “very profitable trip.”

Young children are full of such joy and wonder, experiencing the world for the first time. Things that we have encountered so many times as to become mundane are mesmerizing to young ones. Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” While in the context of the story, this statement is talking about total faith in God, it has always reminded me that another way we can (and perhaps should) become like children is to recapture that wonder we had when we were young, interacting with the world around us.

One of the great joys of homeschooling was watching our children experience the world around them for the first time. That is one of the reasons My Father’s World curriculum emphasizes getting your children outside. Nature walks, free time, science activities, all contribute to a child’s growth as they witness God’s creation all around them.

Over the decades, that essay and its metaphor have stayed with me. We have incorporated it into the family language and culture. We are always looking for “pennies from heaven.” A beautiful sunset, a stunning Scarlet Tanager, the brilliant yellow of a Goldfinch, a newly opened flower, a dew-drenched spider web, a nest of rabbits at the back of the yard, or twin fawns leaping around their mother in the field are all labeled “pennies from heaven.” And though I readily admit I most easily see God in the quiet and beauty of nature, we also see pennies in other surprises. When someone is helpful or kind, that too is a penny from heaven. Watching our children holding the door open for an elderly lady, seeing the smile on the face of the little boy down the street when the town put on a parade just for him a few months before he died from cancer, listening to our oldest as he plans a holiday gathering for the entire family, and helping our youngest make pb&j sandwiches to distribute to the homeless — all these are also “pennies from heaven.” Moments in time when we see the face of God in the glory and majesty of God’s creation whether that creation be the beautiful world around us or the beautiful people around us. Pennies from heaven are everywhere if you look for them.