A Penny For Your Thoughts

The month of September rolled in with a bang for me.  I spent Labor Day weekend with a terrible stomach virus which was followed up by a miserable cold/sinus infection, which was followed by my best friend receiving some devastating news about her health.  Oh yes, and did I mention that I turned 40 in between?

Now that I am starting to feel like I am back in "the land of the living," the hubby and I left for our annual trip to Memphis to attend the Cooper Young Festival.  There's always lots of great music, food, and arts and crafts, along with lots of interesting sights to see:

A man draped in fruits and vegetables - Dinner anyone?

Chairs made out of old skis

Fencing

 

Where would you hang this?

We even found some great Mexican food there.  This  food vendor actually has three restaurant locations around Memphis:  Las Delicias, Las Delicias Bar and Grill, and Las Delicias Tortilleria.  Hands down, they served the BEST guacamole I have ever eaten!  I can't wait to try their food in one of these restaurants.

My favorite artist booth this year was Ornament Home.  I found this really cool hand stamped "Redeemed" Penny ring. 

I copied this picture from the Ornament Home Etsy Shop.

The ring came with this great story that I would like to share:

We are all like pennies…designed beautifully & minted into a shiny work of art. Over time, left to ourselves, we tarnish. Pennies…maybe dropped on the ground, lost & forgotten; maybe damaged, stepped on, dirty or abandoned.

Most of us think a penny is worthless. We may not even spend our energy to bend over & pick one up off the street. Most pennies are forgotten about, staying in the bottom of our purses or pockets & being tossed aside for lack of value.

But I know Someone who goes up & down the streets, searching high & low, looking everywhere for these “worthless” pennies. He finds value in each one. He rejoices, with great excitement when He finds just one! It doesn’t matter where that coin has been, what date is stamped on it, if it’s scratched, stained, or who held it before. When a penny is found by Him, it is no longer lost! He takes that copper coin & stamps REDEEMED on it. He cleans it, polishes it & makes it shine, & then puts that penny in His care.

Some definitions of redemption: 1.To rescue from a dangerous place; 2.When someone pays a debt, so that a prisoner can be free; 3.To get back by paying a price; 4.To have help out of a problem.

See, left to myself, I sin. Sin is what makes me unacceptable in God’s eyes. I’m stained, dirty before Him. But thankfully God doesn’t want me to stay that way. So, He gave me Jesus Christ, his perfect, sinless Son, who sacrificially took my ugly sin on Himself & paid for all sin by being nailed to a tree & dying.

Wonderfully, Jesus didn’t stay in death. He was raised back to life! Because I know & trust this & turned from sin, I am redeemed & forgiven. I really deserve to have to pay the price for my own sin, but no matter what I do, I can’t. Jesus willingly paid it for me with His blood payment. He loves me. He is the real definition of redemption. He “rescued me from a dangerous place” & “paid the debt so I could get out of the prison” of sin and escape the death penalty. This is great news! So, I want to live a life shiny & clean for Him, joyfully aware & thankful for what He did for me. He gave me new life! What a gift!-  copied from www.etsy.com/shop/Ornamenthome

Needless to say, this penny looks a lot different than the other coins that I carry around in my purse.  It makes me wonder, do I look different from non-believers?  Am I shining like a "newly minted' penny for Him?  I certainly am going to try!

Isaiah 43:1-4

Titus 2:12-14

Psalm 107:1-2

Psalm 49:15