Valuable pennies

It seems nearly every convenience store has them. Little penny cups by the register which are there to make going 2-Cents over your $40 gas tank fill just a little less annoying. Now you can just hand over the two twenties and some previous customer will pick up your two cents. Hopefully, when you get a few pennies in change from a slurpee or from picking up milk, you toss them back in the cup.

Its actually a nice idea that we need to consider. Sure, I know most of us consider the pennies virtually worthless. But I’ve been glad I haven’t had to pocket 97-cents in change just because I couldn’t stop the pump fast enough. Somebody else’s three cents made my day just a little nicer. And hopefully so does my couple pennies dropped in the cup when the bill comes out just shy of a round number.

Just think of the difference we could make if we carried that philosophy through to everything we do. Give a little bit of our excess … to make a cumulative difference that really stands out. Maybe its excess time, or money, or clothing, or something else. Ten dollars donated to a food pantry buys a virtual feast to struggling families. Total strangers can be moved to tears by your charitable donations to a charity that is touching their lives in difficult times. One thing is certain -- there are always people that will consider our “virtually worthless” contribution as a treasure. Maybe only for a moment in the convenience store -- but maybe, for a lifetime.

So today, toss a few “pennies” into life’s little cup. You could change a life for the better -- and that will, in turn, change yours.