Pennies from Heaven

It's not often that I suggest the coincidences in life are created by God. However, when things happen related to questions of faith, I'll credit God with it. One of those happened today and I'd like to share it with you.

I got to church this morning knowing what kind of day I had in front of me. With a finance team meeting tonight, I would have to find time to pour over the year to date reports, look at projections, and figure out how we're going to pay our bills. I know that many people don't like mixing faith conversation with money conversations, but Jesus did it all the time, so I'll continue.

The financial picture at Good Shepherd is probably a lot like your home. You budget for the year, then the car breaks down, the orthodontist bill is higher than expected, your roof develops a leak, a bonus doesn't come through and suddenly you find yourself tight. At church it happens when our heating and cooling repair bill runs $12,000 more than budgeted, a need for rubber mulch (which should be in place by the end of the month) drains some of our offering, and a sluggish economy restricts the increase in offerings we had budgeted for. (In case you missed my subtle statement here, we're financially in a tight spot at this time.)

At about 4:30 I decided to head home for some supper before the meeting. As I crossed the parking lot to my truck (I tend to park far away to allow our PDO/Preschool parents the front spots for dropping off and picking up children) I was praying. I'm not sure of all that I was saying in my prayer but I remember saying this, "God, this is a time where we could sure use the blessing of 'pennies from heaven.'" I think I took two more steps before I noticed it. This is where God showed up. What I saw sitting on the parking lot was a dime and a nickel. God had to be laughing. Not laughing at me, but enjoying the clever way that God was saying "Pennies are on the way... and then some. Just have faith."

I don't know where the pennies are coming from. I just heard God say, "Coming right up." So I'll praise God for giving me the hope that came in the form of a nickel and a dime.