The other day I heard a clanging sound as I transferred clothes from the washer to the dryer. I peered over the edge of the washer and looked into the dark washing basin. Hoping it wasn’t a metal button or snap that had come off of a pair of pants that would have to be sewn back on, my eyes spotted a shining coin. It was a Shilling coin from Kenya.
The coin’s value is about equal to thirty cents here in the US. Without thinking much about it, I picked it up and tossed it on the shelf of soaps and cleaners in the closet. I knew fully well that it would get lost and probably never be found once placed on the shelf where things are almost guaranteed to disappear. I guess I didn’t think it was worth the hassle of finding the container with the foreign money that I have for travels. After all, it was just thirty cents.
Have you ever seen a quarter on the ground and just left it there and kept walking? Why bother with the effort of bending over to pick it up, right? It’s just a quarter. It’s amazing for me to think about those in our world who work from sunrise to set with a quarter being just half of their day’s wage. I was told in Ethiopia, the average income is $180 a year for a family. Men, women, and children are working hard and sometimes they are working while they are sick and dying, just to make fifty cents a day for their families.
For some reason the memory of finding that coin keeps popping up in my head. Why? I don’t know. Maybe it is the Lord’s way of reminding me that we should be thankful for every little coin He provides. Maybe it is a conviction to repent from taking money for granted in general…even if it is only thirty cents. Maybe it is to remember the lame girl in Ethiopia that I saw scooting on the ground and begging for money. The one that broke my heart into pieces. Thirty cents would mean much to her. It would mean so much to the boys shinning shoes on the street. Thirty cents may not be much to us, but is to them. Maybe God reminded me of that so I could pray for them today.
In Mark 12:41-44 we are told of the widow, who in the midst of the wealthy giving their large donations, walked up and gave two copper mites. Two meager coins, and we are told they were all she had. I was thinking today of that poverty stricken widow and her offering. Her gift meant so much more than those around her who gave large sums from their pockets and little form their hearts. Her offering was a gift from the heart and a faith in God’s provision for the future.
I thought about that coin I found in my washing machine again. You know, the one I took for granted. It’s really the same coin that you and I have stepped over and didn’t bother picking up because we didn’t want to stop or interrupt our walk’s stride. What we walk over, step on, toss aside, and ignore, is all that some people have. Yet we do it without even thinking about it. We act like it just isn’t worth our time.
I was recently given a bag of coins by a kind and generous man. He had been collecting them for some time. The Lord happened to prompt him into putting those coins in his truck the night our paths crossed. He didn’t know why until he heard of the children I met in Africa. He told me he needed to run out to his truck and suddenly realized why he had brought those coins on that night. He gave me the coins and told me to feed hungry children with them. One coin + one coin + one coin. They all added up. The total was more than what many in the world will make in one year. His coins were from the heart, and a gift that the Lord will use to do great things.
We live in a world where children are starving to death. We live in a world where prayers, gifts from the heart, and gifts of service are the ways to save them. We aren’t alone in the battle. The Lord stands by waiting to multiply anything we give back to Him to use. Meanwhile, the children wait. They wait on us. They wait on us to do something…anything.
The coin’s value is about equal to thirty cents here in the US. Without thinking much about it, I picked it up and tossed it on the shelf of soaps and cleaners in the closet. I knew fully well that it would get lost and probably never be found once placed on the shelf where things are almost guaranteed to disappear. I guess I didn’t think it was worth the hassle of finding the container with the foreign money that I have for travels. After all, it was just thirty cents.
Have you ever seen a quarter on the ground and just left it there and kept walking? Why bother with the effort of bending over to pick it up, right? It’s just a quarter. It’s amazing for me to think about those in our world who work from sunrise to set with a quarter being just half of their day’s wage. I was told in Ethiopia, the average income is $180 a year for a family. Men, women, and children are working hard and sometimes they are working while they are sick and dying, just to make fifty cents a day for their families.
For some reason the memory of finding that coin keeps popping up in my head. Why? I don’t know. Maybe it is the Lord’s way of reminding me that we should be thankful for every little coin He provides. Maybe it is a conviction to repent from taking money for granted in general…even if it is only thirty cents. Maybe it is to remember the lame girl in Ethiopia that I saw scooting on the ground and begging for money. The one that broke my heart into pieces. Thirty cents would mean much to her. It would mean so much to the boys shinning shoes on the street. Thirty cents may not be much to us, but is to them. Maybe God reminded me of that so I could pray for them today.
In Mark 12:41-44 we are told of the widow, who in the midst of the wealthy giving their large donations, walked up and gave two copper mites. Two meager coins, and we are told they were all she had. I was thinking today of that poverty stricken widow and her offering. Her gift meant so much more than those around her who gave large sums from their pockets and little form their hearts. Her offering was a gift from the heart and a faith in God’s provision for the future.
I thought about that coin I found in my washing machine again. You know, the one I took for granted. It’s really the same coin that you and I have stepped over and didn’t bother picking up because we didn’t want to stop or interrupt our walk’s stride. What we walk over, step on, toss aside, and ignore, is all that some people have. Yet we do it without even thinking about it. We act like it just isn’t worth our time.
I was recently given a bag of coins by a kind and generous man. He had been collecting them for some time. The Lord happened to prompt him into putting those coins in his truck the night our paths crossed. He didn’t know why until he heard of the children I met in Africa. He told me he needed to run out to his truck and suddenly realized why he had brought those coins on that night. He gave me the coins and told me to feed hungry children with them. One coin + one coin + one coin. They all added up. The total was more than what many in the world will make in one year. His coins were from the heart, and a gift that the Lord will use to do great things.
We live in a world where children are starving to death. We live in a world where prayers, gifts from the heart, and gifts of service are the ways to save them. We aren’t alone in the battle. The Lord stands by waiting to multiply anything we give back to Him to use. Meanwhile, the children wait. They wait on us. They wait on us to do something…anything.
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