The Penny Cup

Lord, I fumed, Caleb is making a terrible mistake. You’ve got to do something! The girl my son was dating was all wrong for him. I just knew it. I’d pleaded, argued, reasoned, even written notes, but nothing could change his mind. One afternoon, at my wit’s end, I was sitting in the kitchen fretting, when I looked down at my cup of tea—and was reminded of the penny cup.

Years ago I had read about the penny cup in a magazine. A woman, impatient for an answer to her prayer, declared that every penny she found she’d put into a mug and they would all be reminders that, yes, God was still listening to her and that, yes, he’d answer her in his good time. Soon enough the cup was full and her prayer was answered.

“That’s what I’ll do,” I said. Rummaging in the back of a cabinet I took out a mug that Caleb had bought for me when he was in the third grade.

God, please change Caleb’s mind, I prayed, and started looking for pennies. I found one in the laundry room, another in a grocery parking lot, a couple more outside on the sidewalk. Once, I found eight pennies in one spot. I deposited every one into the cup. Soon Caleb would see things my way.

But something strange happened instead. I got to know the girl. I discovered that she was good to my son and truly loved him. In fact, she brought out some good qualities in him. I was dropping one more penny into the cup when it dawned on me: Kathy, God has already answered your prayer.

He didn’t change Caleb’s mind. He changed mine. And you know what? When I looked down at the penny cup, it was full!

[extract from inspirational stores written by: Kathy Grooms]