April 11, 2022

Receiving Grace, One Penny at a Time

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God — not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” - Ephesians 2:8-9

After my mom died, I was responsible for cleaning out her home, making sure to distribute belongings to relatives and charities. Along the way, of course, there were lots of fun and quirky discoveries, as there always are when you are looking at someone else’s belongings.

At the bottom of her bathroom cabinet, I discovered a glass jar labeled “found money” and filled with coins. There was about $22 in the jar, mostly pennies but with occasional nickels, dimes, and quarters in the mix.

Mom had a habit of never passing by a coin that she spotted on the ground. “See a penny, pick it up, all day long, you’ll have good luck.” That was a refrain that I heard often as I grew up.

Both of my parents were the right combination of generous and frugal. I could tell many stories about both of them and the ways in which they reached out to help others, and I could balance those tales with just as many stories of their frugality. As children of the Depression, they took neither generosity nor frugality lightly.

So picking up those coins was a habit borne out of Mom’s lifetime of watching her pennies and counting her blessings. This “found money” was unearned so she treated it with care. Each coin was an expected gift, something that simply appeared on her path as she went about her life. That $22 in coins represented literally hundreds of moments when she recognized that she had been gifted with something of value. She did not just deposit those coins in her purse to blend in with other money.
She picked up each coin, reflected upon her luck, and set it aside in this special place.

Mom and her collection of coins makes me think about the gift of God’s grace. I am showered with that grace every day. I have done nothing to earn it, but I feel the gift of that love all around me. I am no more deserving of that grace, that love, than anyone else. But I am blessed every moment of every day to have it. Recognizing that I am the recipient of such grace emboldens me to live the life that God intended for me.

Prayer: As I absorb God’s grace every day, please help me to honor that gift by recognizing that I have received it and by ensuring that I do all that I can to live fully in the way that God intends me to live.

Joan Richardson