Two cents.

I could have walked right past it, but who does that?

Apparently, my wife does.

We were walking into a local arena this afternoon to watch our high school basketball team play, and just a few feet from the entrance, there they lay:

A 1981 penny and a 2000 penny.

Besides my wife, I’m not sure how many people had walked past them, but I was going to make sure no one else had the chance.

I stooped down to pick them up, and while I was down there, I looked to see if there was anything else to pocket.

At my age, you’ve got to make the most of those bending moments.

While I was reaching for the pennies, my wife turned to see what was holding me up.

“I can’t walk by a coin when I see one lying on the ground,” I explained, noticing her look of disbelief.

I added, “Hey, I’m two cents richer than I was when I woke up this morning,” flashing her a big grin.

“Whatever,” she said as she opened the door, and we walked into the arena.

Now, when I walked into the arena, I was two cents richer. But after a trip to the concession stand, I walked out of the arena $27.55 poorer than when I woke up this morning.

Popcorn is my kryptonite.

Anyway, that two cents got me thinking.

It’s easy to overlook how the small things in life can make us richer.

For example, today, I got to sit next to my wife at a basketball game.
I got to laugh and joke with a friend at the same game.
I got to text two people to encourage them in their professions.
I got to share a meal around the table with my family.
I got to snuggle on the couch with my wife, our dachshund between us, while watching some YouTube show she enjoys.
I got to write these words to you.

Just like those two pennies, it would be easy to overlook these moments as being of little value.

Yet, as I prepare to end this day, I know I’ll be doing so richer in my relationships simply because of the deposits I made today.

Now that I’ve given you my two cents worth, I bid you wishes for a richer tomorrow as you seize those “two cent moments” that lay before you.

©2024 Travis L. Edwards All Rights Reserved

It happened on Wednesday.

We had seen him crossing the busy road as we were driving to the restaurant.

Now he was standing in front of us, putting his name on the waiting list.

His hair was unkempt.

His feet didn’t fit into his boots.

His speech was impeded.

He appeared to be homeless.

After putting his name on the waiting list, he sat down.

After putting our name on the waiting list, we sat down.

Without saying a word to each other, Melissa knew what I was thinking, and I knew what she was thinking.

After the man was seated, Melissa was standing.
“I am going to find out his table number,” Melissa stated.

I nodded in agreement.

Table 85.

After being seated, I asked our server if there was a man sitting at table 85.

He looked and nodded affirmingly.

“We would like to pay for his meal,” I said.

“I will let his server know,” our server said as he walked away with a smile and a bit more pep in his step.

When our server returned, he told us that this was the second time one of his customers had done that for someone.

I was surprised and hopeful he had only worked there for a short time.

As I sat there eating, the words of Jesus echoed in my heart: “Whatever you did to the least of these, you did for me.”
I felt a tear making its way down my cheek.

This year has been tough on Melissa and me financially.

Almost everything that could break down or quit working—things that are expensive to fix or replace—has done just that.

Add inflation to the equation, and we’ve felt a limitation like never before in our years of marriage.

Yet, as we sat at our table, Melissa and I knew we were still much better off than the guy at table 85.

When our server brought us our bill, he said, “You have some good karma coming your way.”

I know better than that.

I don’t have karma coming my way.

I do surely have goodness and mercy following me all the days of my life because the Lord is my Shepherd.

As we left the restaurant on Wednesday, we thought that was the end of the story.

However, it happened again on Thursday.

Different restaurant, but same guy.

Same hair.

Same clothes.

Same speech.

Same response.

I told the cashier I wanted to pay his bill.

She then told me that the restaurant has let him dine “on the house” before and that other customers have also paid for his meal.

She also told me that she and some coworkers had brought in some blankets and were going to see if he needed them before he left that day.

That felt good to hear.

I wish we heard more of such goodness because it’s happening all around us.

There are many who have lost hope, but not all hope is lost.

2,000 years ago, God became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ.

The angel told Joseph:
“Mary will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”                              (which means “God with us”).
—Matthew 1:21–22

God with us.

Jesus was God with skin on, and that brought hope to the world.

The world still needs to know that God is with them.

People need to know there is hope.

The way they discover that hope is through those of us who know the Christ of Christmas.

We are to be Jesus with skin on.

To the hungry.

To the hurting.

To the homeless.

To the hopeless.

To all those like the man sitting at table 85.

©2024 Travis L. Edwards All Rights Reserved

I’ve had sixteen years to prepare for this day and I still wasn’t ready. 

Today was the day my firstborn took her driver’s test.

Sixteen years ago this day seemed so distant.

She was a little over a week old and spending a lot of time in my arms. 

That was life 5,844 days ago. 

There was no thought of her behind the wheel of a car. 

There were only thoughts of making sure I got her buckled up in the car seat correctly. 

I did. 

After all, she did make it to today.

 Ah, yes, today.

A day much different than that day sixteen years ago. 

Today we got up and got around so we could be at the driver’s testing site when it opened.

After parking the car, I got out and made sure everything was in proper working order. 

Headlights.

High Beams.

Turn Signals.

Hazard Lights. 

All good. 

It was now time to do what it seemed like we shouldn’t be doing yet.

Before taking the walk, however, I said to her “let’s have a talk with God.”

So there in the parking lot I placed my hand on her, bowed my head, and prayed.

I thanked the Lord for sixteen years and then asked Him for focus and favor, among other things. 

After the amen things got real. 

We opened the door to enter the building and found that more than one other sixteen year old wanted to be there when it opened.

My daughter checked in and then we began to wait. Daddy. Daughter. Mommy.

I passed the time talking with a friend of my brothers that I hadn’t seen in probably twenty years. He was there with his grandson. 

One by one, the sixteen year olds left to take the test and one by one they returned with smiles that told the story. Miles of freedom were now theirs for the taking. 

Then, came my daughter’s moment. The door opened and the examiner called her name. With that, she was out the door to open the door to the car and drive away. 

Daddy and mommy went from sitting to standing to pacing. I guess you could say we were a nervous wreck.

An older lady noticed and said, “she is going to be okay”. Apparently, that wasn’t the only thing she had noticed. She continued, “you prayed with her out in the parking lot, didn’t you?”

“I did”, I gently replied. 

“He’s going to take care of her”, she declared.

With that reassurance the waiting became easier.

Of course, the Lord was going to take care of her. 

It’s what He was doing 5,844 days ago and what He has been doing every day between then and now. 

I wasn’t ready for this day but the Lord was. 

This day seemed distant to me but not to Him. 

Sixteen years ago my daughter was spending a lot of time in my arms but there has never been a time when she wasn’t in the Lord’s arms. 

There never will be. 

Today, tomorrow, and to the very end of the road the Lord will hold her fast in a life that goes by too fast for this daddy. 

Not long after the older lady reminded me of God’s care for my daughter my daughter returned with a smile that told the story. Miles of freedom was now hers for the taking.

After debriefing with the examiner, we turned to leave and as we did I gave the older lady a thumbs up to let her know my daughter passed and for reminding me that I didn’t need to be a nervous wreck.

© 2024 Travis L. Edwards All Rights Reserved

Yesterday I received a message in an envelope.

I know that doesn’t seem like an earth shattering statement.

Thousands of people probably opened their mailbox yesterday and received a message in an envelope. 

Maybe you were one of them.

My envelope and message, however, were sent from heaven.

I know.

I have gone from making a statement that wasn’t earth shattering to making one that is heaven shaped. 

Let me explain.

Life has thrown one curveball after another at our family recently.

Mostly financial.

Mostly vehicle related.

We keep swinging and missing.

It’s been overwhelming.

We prayed and it was like heaven was silent.

I have had doubts.

Not in God.

In myself.

As a husband.

A daddy.

A provider.

“The fact that Satan is working against you just means you are doing something right,” others said.

“Or maybe you have done something wrong,” I said to myself.

I have been hearing that voice a lot.

My voice of condemnation and failure.

Yet I never stopped using my voice to cry out to the Lord.

Help.

Help me.

Help us.

Then the message in the envelope arrived.

A man came to the church I pastor. 

He isn’t a member.

I had met him a few years ago in passing.

“May I have a few seconds of your time,” he asked.

“Of course,” I said as we walked the few steps down the hall to my office. 

Once inside he handed me a bank envelope and said, “the Lord told me to give this to you.”

“To me,” I questioned.

“Yes,” to you he said matter-of-factly. “Not to the church but to you.”

I started crying.

I gave him a hug and simply said, “we have been going through a rough time.”

He stated once again that his presence there was simply an act of obedience  and that the Lord had blessed him.

He then asked, “what does this mean to you?”

It’s a reminder God’s got me,” I said. “He knows what we’re going through.”

I thanked him for being used by the Lord and he left.

He left me with a message in an envelope.

A reminder.

A reminder that came to me again in a text message as I was writing this. 

“You’ve been carrying so much. You’re doing your best and you’re doing it all while trying to take care of those you love. Here is a little reminder that you are being carried through what you are having to carry. You have a Father that sees your dedication and takes not of your effort. Keep going. You are loved.”

Heaven is listening.

The Lord is working to provide.

Yesterday heaven touched earth.

I received a message in an envelope.

©2024 Travis L. Edwards All Rights Reserved

All of us have moments when life becomes overwhelming and we’re afraid because it feel like we are drowning. During these overwhelming moments of life it’s important to know that we have a promise to anchor our soul.

Isaiah 43:2 says, “When you go through deep water, I will be with you. When you cross dangerous rivers, you will not drown.” This powerful scripture is a promise from God, a reminder that we are never alone in our struggles. Jesus is our lifeguard, watching over us in the deep waters of life that threaten to pull us under.

If a job loss, broken relationship, health problem or something else has got you overwhelmed to the point of giving up then look up. Jesus is reaching out to you. Listen up. Jesus is calling out to you.

“I’m here with you”, Jesus says. “I’m not going to let you go under.”

Jesus doesn’t just sit on the shore, watching and waiting. He is in the deep water with us to pull us to safety.

Jesus is our Lifeguard.

Jesus being our lifeguard means that we don’t have to face life’s challenges alone. His love and grace surround us, giving us the courage to keep swimming even when we feel like we can’t go on. He sees us, He knows our struggles, and He’s there to rescue us.

So, if you’re feeling like you’re drowning today, remember Isaiah 43:2. Remember that you have a lifeguard who is always by your side, ready to save you. Trust in Jesus, lean on Him, and let His love carry you through the waves. You are never alone; He is always with you, guiding you to the safety of His embrace.

©2024 Travis L. Edwards All Rights Reserved