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 husband's employer's home. 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 their house.
The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live. The 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 that 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..

mudslinger47 wrote on 07/27/08 at 2:05pm:


YES! YES IT IS! ! ! !

Now THIS is worth while reading!!!

This is not such a profound story about the penny, but may be interesting to some anyway.

When my grandad died my grandmother gave their car away (to a relative) because she didn't want to keep up with the maintenance, yata yata yata. She walked every morning, and took different routes depending on what she needed from a grocery store or whatever that day. She planned ahead and would buy a few things each day, and any time the rest of us stopped by, we would call ahead and see what kind of big items she might need picked up from the store.

On her walks every day she picked up any money that she found. Her house backed up to a school and there were always quite a few pennies there when she walked past it. She would find coins of all sizes, and the occasional bill also. She was pretty well off financially, but she wrote down how much she found on the calendar each day when she got home from her walks to keep track of her found money. On New Years Eve she would always sit down and go back through her calendar and tally it all up for the year. It was very seldom that she found less than $100 a year, and I think her max was around $300 one year but that was slightly skewed by her finding a $100 bill.

The penny story reminded me of that so I figured I'd share it. It's amazing what a penny, or coin, here and there can add up to.