A Penny for My Thoughts?

Have you ever heard that silly little phrase, "Find a penny pick it up, the rest of the day you'll have good luck?" Well, it used to be one of my favorites, until I was home for Christmas this year. My mom and I were out shopping about and found a penny laying on the ground. She bent down to pick it up and immediately shot back up! To my surprise she didn't pick the penny up. She actually flipped the penny to be on the "heads" side. She told me that the rest of the little jingle states that if it is tails up, you must flip the penny over for the next person to have a lucky day!

Amazed, I marked that moment as quite an eye opener in my life...being around two months ago, I guess you could say my findings as an individual are a bit more dramatic than the common man. But nonetheless, it caught me off guard. I thought to myself how interesting it would be if we treated others in the same way.

To me, finding someone who shares similar views to you, is rather charming, and treats you along with their family (especially mother) with respect is considered a blessing. In this day and age, I find it odd that we seem to prize this concept of marriage, as though finding it is somehow affirmation that we have done something right in our lives. While marriage is good, I think that this whole ordeal of marking it as something to attain for status, self confidence, or a recognition that someone was fond of you enough to commit for life is a little bit jaded.

Especially being a Christian young adult, marriage is the idea of fulfillment within church culture. I can't remember the last church service at a young adult focused church I went to that didn't have me feeling apart of a meat market the moment I showed up. How about the fact that I am a Christian Education (ministries) major? It is almost unthinkable that I would ever be single at this age! Women who hear of my relationship status find ways of adding their sons numbers into my phone, or having accidental run-ins at the local Starbucks with their most handsome candidate for me to try out. It feels as though I'm on an episode of Oprah each time I share that I am single in church. The women all seem to have a cue card with the appropriate "aww" making me feel like a sad excuse for a woman.

The truth is that, to me, dating and marriage are both to be taken as a blessing. So, when my mother explained the value in leaving something better than before for the next person who interacts with it. I couldn't help my over-analytical spirit from linking it to my relationship with men. When I meet someone, someday, who I truly believe is someone to pursue a committed relationship with, I get to pick that penny right on up! However, if I treat each interaction as seeing the penny, recognizing its worth, but leaving it better than how I came across in the first place for the next woman who passes on by, then I have not only done the penny a favor, nor the woman who picks it up, but also myself.

I wouldn't want to settle with a tails up penny! I'd appreciate, if God has someone for me to be with out there, that the women coming into contact with him now would have the same attitude. I don't honestly know if I will ever get to pick a penny up, but what better way to remind myself that its worth it when I get to see other women cash in on quality, wise, and mature men? All positively influenced from those they have met beforehand.

Marriage to me isn't a goal, because there is no fun in seeking to find a penny and coming up short. I'd rather stumble upon one someday, if the timing is right, and be blessed by its presence at that point in time. (Not to say that my eyes are completely closed of course!) Plus, it sometimes takes a few turn overs for the penny to be just right! You wouldn't want to cheat a penny out of its shine, now would you? So, the next time you walk by a penny on the ground, keep in mind the joy of you finding something rather special, but also the beauty in creating that special moment for someone else!