Faith Stories: Pennies from Heaven
A few weeks ago, I was having coffee with my neighbor. Like me, she is a widow, and during our conversation, she asked me if I ever saw my husband, Ronnie, in dreams. When I told her no, she proceeded to tell me about how she had a recurring dream every few months or so, where she would see her deceased husband ride by on a train, smiling and waving to her out of the window! Well, I must confess that I was a wee bit, well, okay, a LOT jealous over this. I couldn’t understand why, in the five years that he had been gone, I had not ONCE dreamed about Ronnie. What was the deal here?
Later that same day, my son’s partner Cary called to see if I wanted to go look at dogs at the pound. Ronnie and I had always had dogs, but he had generally been the caretaker, and when he died, I felt like I couldn’t even take care of myself, let alone an animal, so I had given the dogs away. But now, five years later, I had gradually reached the point where I was ready for the responsibility of a dog; however, I had a LONG list of necessary (and non-negotiable) requirements and expectations! So you can imagine my surprise when we walked into the pound that day and immediately found what seemed to be the perfect rescue dog in the front display kennel, just waiting for me!
We took her outside, and right away, she did her business on the grass (check that off the list – housetrained!). But as we walked her around the yard, I became unsure – I was just planning on looking. Should I get the first dog I found? I hadn’t even looked anywhere else. Cary had been kind enough to bring me, but he wouldn’t make the decision for me, or even give me an opinion. I didn’t know what to do.
We stooped down to pet the dog; she rolled over so that we could scratch her belly. And then it happened. When she got back up, we found, buried in the dirt right under her, a penny. Oh my…you see, in my family, a penny means that Ronnie is watching over us from heaven! My granddaughters even call those finds “Grumps Pennies,” using their special name for him! That was all the encouragement I needed – I went right back into the office, paid for her, and promptly renamed her Penny!
That night, as I cuddled on the sofa with my new Penny – who unbelievably met EVERY criteria on the list – I began to think about my neighbor and her dreams. No, I didn’t see Ronnie in dreams, but look where I DID see him…in random pennies and in perfect dogs. God speaks to all of us in different ways – we just have to listen. How does He speak to you?
Barbara Benton