Jiggling Coins

I found a dollar on my morning walk.
I always wonder why that is exciting to me.
It is not about the amount of the find.
It is just that it was found in an unexpected place.

If the dollar is on someone’s driveway or walkway, it is not to be taken.
If the dollar is in the middle of the street, it is difficult to claim.
I picked up the dollar and smiled to myself.
It was the thrill of the find.

This found dollar bill was crisp and new, though it had been folded.
Often when money is given as change after a purchase, the bills have seen better days.
Bills are usually tattered with a corner missing.
They look dirty with multiple folds and creases.

I often see cashiers wearing rubber gloves as they handle money.
I remember asking a cashier once why she wore the gloves.
I touch money all day long and I don’t know where it has been, she answered.
I never forgot what she said; it was something I had never thought about before.

I once received change and a dollar bill came with instructions.
Written in ink, around the border, were words that told the recipient what to do.
When you get this bill, write what state you are in so we can see how far it travels.
I did not follow the instructions because the bill got handed to a cashier without thinking.

If our money could tell a story.
If our money could keep an itinerary of the places it has been before it reached us.
If our money was able to tell a story about the people it visited on its journey.
If our money was able to talk.

I don’t know if I really would want to know all the places the bills in my wallet have been.
Some of the bills have traveled across the country.
Some of the bills have been washed in the pockets of jeans.
Some of the bills, that were once new and crisp, were sent in a birthday card.

I remember when the dollar coin became available.
It never really caught on since people were used to dollar bills in their wallet.
I worked at a bank during my college years and people rarely asked for dollar coins.
Once in a while, someone would want to get a few dollar coins to give to their grandchildren.

During my years at the bank, the two dollar bill was reintroduced.
That was another thing that no one seemed to want except to put in a card as a gift.
Habits are hard to break.
We become use to our currency the way it is and do not like any deviations.

Traveling abroad and exchanging money for the country’s currency can be confusing for some.
My children used to like when their father brought back coins and bills from other countries.
Trying to get your head around the exchange rate can be confusing.
Most times, the foreign money that is brought back remains in a drawer, forgotten.

Many people do not like to have a lot of coins.
I actually do not mind having them.
When I have too many coins in my wallet, I put the overflow in a small crock.
When the coins reach the top, I bring them to one of those machines that will count them.

If I wait until the coins reach the top, there is usually close to $100 in that crock.
Do not despise the day of small things. (Zechariah 4:10)
Even small amounts of coins can add up.
What others may consider trivial and unimportant, is really quite significant.

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44)

When I was in high school, we were expected to study a language.
I chose to study German.
I remember one of my German teachers expected us to speak German in class.
He would not answer to Mr. D only to Herr D.

Herr D walked around the classroom with his hands in his pockets.
Inside his pockets, he always had lots of coins.
He would continuously jiggle those coins as he walked.
We all got used to it except on days when we took a test; then it was terribly distracting.

When Jesus watched people put money in the treasury, He also heard the sound.
The treasury receptacles were trumpet-shaped.
When the rich people dropped their coins into the receptacles, it made quite a noise.
People could tell the size of your offering by the sound of the coins as they dropped.

When the widow put her two copper coins in the receptacle, they made no sound at all.
Only Jesus heard her offering because He heard the cry of her heart.
She could have kept one of the coins for herself, but she chose to give both to God.
The widow gave all she had to live on, which was a sweet melody to Jesus.

I found a dollar on my morning walk.
It really does not matter where the dollar has been.
What matters to Jesus is my heart in relation to my money.
It has been said that we don’t own possessions as much as they own us.

Everything the widow had, she gave back to God.
I ask myself, how am I doing?
I don’t want to be a coin jiggle-er.
I would much rather be quiet about what I give back to the Lord.

Where my dollar has been is not as important as what I do with it.
The story my dollar or your dollar should tell is one of service and giving.
Jiggling coins for the sake of jiggling is what Jesus despised.
Quiet heart-giving of the things that we have been blessed with, pleases our Lord Jesus.