Pennies in the Fridge

Spring break officially ended today when the school bus chugged through the gray morning mist and honked its impatient horn at the end of our driveway. Joshua stood at the door and begged his big sister not to go, while pajama-clad Maggie made a mad dash across the yard in an earnest attempt to join her school-bound siblings. My youngest ones eventually lugged their gloom into the kitchen where I was stashing dirty dishes and mopping up milk splatters from the breakfast rush.

What are we going to do today? Josh asked with a sigh.

Well, we need to get groceries and go to Walmart and do some cooking, I told my four-year-old. I was exhausted just picturing the Monday monotony.

I don’t want to do THAT, Josh declared with a scowl.

I don’t either,  I silently agreed as I opened the empty refrigerator to return the maple syrup to its place. No milk. No eggs. No fruit. No bread. I was taking a mental inventory of our lack when I spotted a gleam behind the near-empty tub of butter. I moved a half-eaten container of yogurt to get a better look. Sure enough, a shiny copper penny smiled at me from the dirty and bare refrigerator shelf.

I don’t remember putting any pennies in the fridge…..

This penny hunt that began one week ago (see Family Faith and Fun: The Search for Wonder) has become a bit like the widow’s endless jar of oil or the little boy’s five loaves and two fishes. Though our penny hunting baskets have long since been tossed, our five hundred copper coins seem to keep multiplying. No matter how many pennies we find and subsequently drop with a spoken praise into the jar that sits on our kitchen table, copper gleams continue to catch our eyes in the most unusual places. Though we never intended to continue hunting for pennies once spring break was over, we’re learning that this penny perspective has much to teach us about discovering wonder right beneath our roof.

The first lesson emerged from a simple conversation that took place as the kids counted their copper loot right after our first “official penny hunt” last Saturday. Somewhere in the midst of his counting, Luke suddenly looked up from his pile of coins and asked, “So when did you hide all these pennies, Mom?”

“I dunno, I guess my eyes just weren’t looking for pennies.”

How often have I missed  the little gleams of glory strewn throughout my day simply because I wasn’t looking.  Worse still, how often have I missed the Author of Wonder simply because my eyes weren’t poised to see Him.

When Luke was just eighteen months old, he loved to play at the park at the end of our block. One of my favorite places as well, this neighborhood green boasted  a fountain-studded pond and a colorful playground.  One evening, we arrived at the park just as the sun was setting. As we walked past the pond, Luke clapped his hands and pointed in the general direction of the water.

 “Pretty, mommy! Pretty!” my toddler squealed.

I didn’t know at exactly what he was marveling, so I offered a generic mom response. “Yeah, pretty.”

Fully aware that I hadn’t spotted the beauty he was admiring, Luke stomped his foot and shouted, “No!”

I scanned our immediate surroundings and tried again. “Oh, honey, the flowers are pretty,” I said as I pointed to the new landscaping around the water.

Again, my firstborn stomped his foot and shook his head “no.”

I  pointed at the ducks gliding across the water. “Pretty feathers?”

“No!”

The guessing game continued and the level of frustration grew. Finally, out of sheer exasperation, I squatted down right beside my little two-foot boy and began to script an apology in my head. That’s when I saw it- the blazing orange sun casting its glow on the dark pond.. As the rays of evening sun collided with the pond’s quiet silky surface, golden sparkles danced across the water.

“Oh, Lukas,” I gasped. “The water. It’s sparkling. And it’s beautiful!” My tow-headed oddler clapped his hands and nodded his sweaty head in an exaggerated yes and hugged me with grand delight. So relieved that I could finally see what he’d seen all along, my son danced an uncharacteristic happy dance and then splashed his feet in the diamond studded waters

As I’ve collected pennies over the past seven days and have allowed gleams of copper to prompt spontaneous praise, I’ve pictured my Heavenly Father a bit like my joyful toddler from yesteryear. Each time I drop another penny into our humble jar, I imagine God clapping His holy hands together, relieved and delighted to share with me what He’s seen all along–– sparkles of wonder dancing across the landscape of my ordinary days. Open the eyes of my heart so I can see, Lord! (Ephesians 1:18)

The Overflow:  He is the one you praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. Deuteronomy 10:21