By QuaWanna Bannarbie

We have all heard the saying, “Do not despise small beginnings.” But do we practice that in our daily living when it comes to recognizing the little change that moves us closer and closer toward the thing we have been praying about? I am learning to acknowledge and respond accordingly when little change is presented to me. This week, I literally had a little change presented to me.

I visited Lowe’s in downtown Suffolk on Main Street to purchase a few things. I had three items, so I helped myself to the self-checkout line. I paid for my items with a debit card and was waiting for my receipt when suddenly, the kiosk terminal spit out money in the change tray. You might be thinking the coin was already there, but no, I distinctly heard the coin as it landed in the tray. I looked down and noticed that it was a penny. For a slight moment, I was going to leave the penny there, but then a lesson I learned from a wise woman came to my mind.

Some years ago, I was walking in the Burger King parking lot with my spiritual mother, Dr. Shirley Harmon, when she stopped to pick up a penny in her path. She smiled as she held it in her palm and proceeded to tell me why she always picks up coins on the ground. Back in 2004, she experienced a heavy time of grief and pain. After weeks of mourning, she was outside when she noticed a shiny penny glowing in the dirt. Many people passed by that penny, but she noticed it and picked it up. She kept it. The lesson of the shiny penny taught her to acknowledge God’s provision for her in everything, because He is a keeper, and to be thankful for small blessings. Since that day, she always picks up loose change in her path. She tells me that there have been plenty of random pennies, as though God is constantly reminding her of this lesson.

The penny that landed in the kiosk was pretty random, but I do not believe in coincidences. I recently read that God works in intentional ways. I know this event with the penny was an intentional marking of the moment. It is no coincidence that the memory of my beloved mentor’s lesson would strike up in my mind as soon as I was about to walk away from a valuable blessing.

But that is what we do, don’t we? We place little value on little changes we see happening in our lives and choose to walk away because change is not happening in the proportion that we would like to see it. But I ask you, if you see no value in the little change, what makes you think you can manage the larger changes you hope to see happen?

Change is a birthing place for opportunity.

Change is evidence of prayers being answers, provisional steps being ordered and new things being birthed. All these examples and more are indicators of opportunity that you need to respond to accordingly. The penny event was a test that I passed. I didn’t ignore it. Finders are keepers. I challenge us all to find value in the little change presenting itself to us every day. If you are working to lose weight, even if the scale hasn’t changed yet, celebrate the change in your diet. If you are trying to start a business and learning the ropes at a slower pace than you want to, celebrate that you started and haven’t given up. If you want to publish a book, celebrate that writing every week is improving your productivity. Little change leads to something big!

 

QuaWanna Bannarbie is an adjunct professor of nonprofit leadership and management with Indiana Wesleyan University, National and Global. Her children attend Suffolk Public Schools. Connect with her via Twitter @QNikki_Notes.