A Penny and A Prayer
Stacy Davis
I sat in my seat quietly waiting for the processional to begin and the Wheaton College graduates to enter Edman Memorial Chapel. My third son would be among them. The chapel was buzzing with conversation, laughter, and palpable anticipation as we all waited. The final walk of the college graduation journey receiving that piece of paper signifying completion. Of course, the degree had already been earned. This ceremony was but a celebration and tangible receipt of the journey. A moment to be recognized, cheered, and marked in one’s memory bank.
It was a moment to celebrate in our son’s life. I was so thrilled for him and the future laid before him. But also, there was a sigh of relief for me as a homeschooling mom of many years. I didn’t totally mess up my kid. Those years of not really knowing what I was doing and wondering if my kids were truly getting the education they needed to be successful in their future vocations was worth it. Our third son was proving the sacrifice and obedience to God in that calling was fruitful in more ways than one, as did my two sons before him. In those waiting moments, I sat there pondering the past and thanking God for the present.
As I glanced down at the graduation program laying on my lap, my eyes couldn’t help but take in the bracelet on my arm laying over the Wheaton program. My penny bracelet in honor of my mom. God instantly reminded me this moment held more than just my answered prayers for my son, his hard work, and future – it held the answered prayers of my mother. My son’s crossing of that Wheaton College finish line marked God’s faithfulness to a single mom raising 3 girls in the Lord in meager means with a physical and mental handicap. As a Wheaton College grad herself and fierce believer in Jesus, one of her heart cries and constant prayers was that one of her daughters would follow in her footsteps at Wheaton. My mom knew how God used Wheaton in her life not only for education, but her walk with Jesus. She wanted that for her children. That prayer wasn’t to be answered. But my mother didn’t give up praying and believing that if not a daughter, maybe a grandchild would be a part of her faith legacy that way.
Over the years, God used pennies in my mom’s life reminding her in some desperate and trying moments that He was not only with her but listening to her prayers. Again and again God put pennies at my mom’s footsteps. With her physical handicap, her walk was slow and steady always with a downward gaze. Each step mattered as one misstep could be her demise. Without a car, walking was her means of transportation, and pennies became her love language with God – or should I say – His love language with her. A few years ago while going through some of her things I found a book filled with pennies taped to pages and journal entries marking the penny moments with God. So many of those moments were held with prayers and God’s presence made known with a penny placed in her path.
That graduation day, the penny wrapped around my wrist reminded me of God’s faithfulness to a praying mom (and grandmom). Not only did my third son graduate from Wheaton, but also my second. None of my other children will go this route, but God did more exceedingly and abundantly above what even my mother could think or pray (Ephesians 3:20). He answered her prayers in His timing and His way. For over 40 years, He was listening and knew He’d answer my mom’s heart’s desire one day in the distant future through my two sons. My mom never lost hope. She kept on praying and believing in God with what she couldn’t see in its completion. How could she have known then what she knows now that her prayers affected future generations for God.
My penny bracelet is a memorial of sorts that I wear in honor of my mother. It reminds me of her steadfastness to God, her perseverance, her faith, and her prayer life. It strengthens my faith. It also reminds me of God’s grace and faithfulness in my life. He has continued His penny love language with me. And so that graduation day, enveloped in the beauty of the celebration laid the beauty of God’s goodness to a praying woman of which I got to benefit, as did my sons.
I don’t know what you have been praying for but take heart, God is listening. Your prayers matter. They open doors and bring God’s will to fruition. They have the power in Christ to touch beyond the present into the future. Don’t stop praying. Don’t lose heart in the waiting. He will answer in His timing maybe not the way you think but His answer will come. I know it will and it will be good because He is good. And when it does, mark the moment. Celebrate His faithfulness. And maybe, you’ll even find a penny laying in your path.
Ephesians 3:20-21
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
