Have you ever found a penny on the ground and thought, “WOO HOO! I’m rich!”
Yeah, me neither.
I do like pennies though. Several years ago I got something in my head about pennies from Heaven so now when I find one randomly lying on my laundry room floor I think about how much God loves me.
That’s a nice feeling.
Saul has a college coaching friend who believes his team will win if he finds a penny before the game. Saul came into his office one day and dumped a handful of pennies on his desk. I believe he said something to his friend like, “Here. This should last you for the season.”
Pennies are little. We don’t ever find one or even a handful of them and think, “YES! I’ve won the lottery!”
Is it a problem with our level of gratitude? I don’t think so. I think for me, it’s a problem of perspective.
This past week, I could see my family melting down. Each one of us wore the weary expression of the toll it’s taking not knowing where Saul will be coaching next and where we will be living come June.
We needed to get out of town and hit the reset button.
I tend to think big. I went on the computer and started googling last minute flights to anywhere. We had a four day weekend in front of us and I intended to use every minute of it.
Funny thing about traveling on Easter weekend: it’s expensive.
Saul gently reminded me that the adult thing to do when one doesn’t have a job is to not go on expensive vacations. Ugh. I hate being an adult.
Instead we came up with Plan B. We decided to have a Phillips Family Fun Day at the Columbus zoo.
That was a great idea until we got to Columbus and it was raining sideways.
We moved on to Plan C and went to Top Golf (an indoor driving range). It turned out to be just what we all needed.
Do you ever fall into that trap of perspective like I do? You set your expectations on exactly what you want and then if reality falls short, you feel cheated.
I wanted a big Springtime getaway with my family. Life offered us 8 hours 90 miles from home.
It’s like the penny on the ground. If you find it, wishing it was a gold coin instead of a copper one, it’ll never mean anything to you. But with the right perspective, it just might be the building block of greater things to come.