It is more than just a penny. It’s a message. Can’t you see that? God is showing us to trust.It was August of 2011 and my sister-in-law, Michelle, had asked me to go to the doctors with her because she felt a lump in her breast.  Nothing could have prepared me for the whirlwind 48 hours that were about to ensue.  We left early in the morning for Pittsburgh, PA, a mecca of research and health care.  As the physician was examining Michelle I could tell by the look on her face that something was wrong.  Immediately she sent her for a sonogram which preempted the ugly word cancer.  She was told to be back in the morning at 5:00AM for an exploratory surgery.  I was in the waiting room the next morning, pacing and waiting for results. Finally the surgeon called me back to tell me that Michelle was terminal.  That word sent shock waves through my entire body.  I stood there in disbelief….Michelle was 34 years old!  I went back to my seat and stared at the floor…noticing a penny at my foot.  I picked it up and didn’t think much about it.  When she was released we walked to the car and after getting her in, I walked to my side.  There on the ground was a penny….I picked it up.

The next day I asked my husband if he would just go sit in the church with me.  I felt the need to just pray and cry and be somewhere quiet but I just could not go alone. We took nothing with us…no purse, no wallet, no books, nothing but ourselves and the key to the car.  We walked into the church that was empty and dark.  No other people were there, no music, no singing…just quiet.  I kneeled and prayed from quite some time and then sat back in the pew.  As I sat back I felt my bracelet in the palm of my hand.  I always wore a bracelet and a watch on my left hand and obviously my bracelet had just broken. I uttered out loud “geez, now my bracelet breaks” ….and my husband and I both looked at the palm of my hand at the same time.  He went white as a ghost as I gasped!  There in the palm of my hand was a penny.  How did it get there?  There was no penny in that seat?  What did this mean?  I was asking questions at breakneck speed and there were no answers.

That evening a few woman came to my house to pray for my sister-in-law.  Through the tears I was recalling all the situations in seeing pennies in the last 48 hours.  I blurted out through my brokenness “and I don’t know what it means”!  One of my friends looked at me and smiled and said “Sure, you know what that means”….”Pennies from heaven….the penny says ‘In God we trust’.”  I sat there silently as I pondered all of the information.

After everyone had left I remembered the book written by Joyce Meyer and Deborah Bedford titled “The Penny”.  This is a book of fiction but it certainly seemed more real to me after I started picking up pennies. In that book is a particular line that says “It is more than just a penny.  It’s a message.  Can’t you see that?”  That evening was the beginning of me starting to see that those pennies were God Shots.  Those pennies were messages that I needed to trust and have faith now more than ever. The pennies, the book….none of this occurred just by happen stance.  I believe that everything happened exactly as it needed to for me to get the message I so desperately needed…  Trust

“The Penny” was a phenomenal read. New York Times bestselling author Max Lucado says “You’ll love this book! Expect to be captured in the first few pages. Need a reminder of God’s plan to use little things to make a big difference?  Then dig in.”  You can order this book here.

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