Change of Gratitude

Pocket change is a rare commodity these days, and its scarcity has shifted my attitude of gratitude.

For years, I kept a small blue box on the windowsill in my laundry room. Every time I found change in the pockets of my blue jeans, I said a prayer of thanks for whatever came to mind – my family, good health, a sunny day, a book idea – and dropped the coins into the box. I donated the full box of change to an outreach program at my church twice a year, so my gratitude could give others something for which to be thankful. My prayers fed the poor, built churches and schools and filled other needs around the world; though I will admit, the ushers at church always groaned when I placed my heavy, coin-filled box in the offering plate.

As today’s economy has embraced digital transactions, few – if any – quarters and dimes can be found in the pockets of blue jeans that find their way down my laundry shoot. I have had to find other creative means of endowing others with my gratitude.

Here are a few I have tried. Feel free to share your gratitude reminders in the comments below.

■ Several mornings a week, I walk with a friend on a gravel road. It’s not unusual for a few pebbles to embed themselves in the rubber soles of my walking shoes. When I dig the rocks out of my shoes, I utter a prayer of thanks for each stone and drop it into a small pottery bowl in the same spot my little blue box once occupied. When ingathering time comes around for the outreach program, I count the stones and write a check, donating twenty-five cents for each pebble.

■ Every time I make a credit card purchase, I say a quick prayer of thanks as I stuff the receipt into the bottom of my purse. When I clean out my purse later, I collect the receipts in an envelope, and when it’s time to turn in my thankfulness offering, I credit each receipt with a one dollar value and write a check.

■ Since my gratitude ministry originally developed in the laundry room, I decided that was a good place for it. I keep an index card and a pencil on the window sill where I used to keep the little blue box. Every time I go in the laundry room (which is about a dozen times a day!) I give thanks for something and make a hash tag on the index card. When it’s time for the bi-annual ingathering of gratitude – you guessed it! I write a check.

It keeps me mindful of my many blessings, and the ushers at church are grateful that I am writing checks instead of dropping boxes of coins into their baskets.