A thought for your pennies and Baked Noodle Ring

This blog is for Nancie and for somebody special that I don't have to mention because God knows who she is.












Baked Noodle Ring

4 cups boiling water
1 t salt
1 4 oz package dry noodles (any kind will work but I like the egg noodles)
3 eggs
1 cup ham pieces or a can of tuna (optional)
1/3 cup broken crackers or stale potato chips
2 and 1/2 T butter melted
1 and 1/4 cup grated cheese


Cook noodles in boiling water with salt until tender (about 10 minutes). Drain and rinse with cold water. Beat eggs in bowl. Add everything else. Pour into baking ring. Set the ring in a pan with water to cover about 2/3 of the ring depth. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until light brown. Turn noodle onto serving tray or plate. Serve hot.


A Thought for Your Pennies

We have all heard the saying “a penny for your thoughts”. Sometimes we say this when we see someone in deep concentration and we wonder what they are thinking. I would like to share with you a thought for your pennies. When I was a little girl, I often walked with my dad and he seemed to be lucky to me because he usually found coins other people had lost. He would say “see a penny pick it up and all day long you’ll have good luck”. I asked him if that was really true and he said “sure it is. If you are lucky enough to find enough pennies they will make a dime and dimes make dollars” then he would laugh as we walked on. A penny by itself is not worth very much but enough of them combined can have a value that is acknowledged by the world.

All my life I watched for that opportunity to scoop up pennies or lost change because I knew about the value of being rescued. Jesus rescued me from being lost forever because I was a treasure to Him. For years I said my dad’s little saying then one day I heard a better one. Wayne Dyer was speaking to a group and he said he does the same thing when he is walking and people look at him strangely that a man who obviously does not need the loose change, would stoop to rescue a penny. He said that every time he rescues a penny he prays “thank you, Lord, for this symbol of your abundance”. That was a profound statement to me and I have been using it now for about ten years with great joy.

A few months ago my heart was very heavy as I prayed for somebody that I love very much and, like always, I was wondering when God was going to answer my prayer. I was walking across the parking lot into work and I spotted a penny. I picked it up and it was covered with scars. Some were old and some were fresh leaving the penny very shiny from the fresh markings. I looked at the date and it was the date of the person I was praying for. I returned to my car and took a moment to pray for them again and to thank God for the reminder that the world sees our outward appearance. It sees our scars and determines our value based on what they can see. I don’t know what put the scars on this little penny and I don’t know what caused all the scars we can’t see inside of people we love. I knew and know only the surface pain of the person I was and am praying for. I carried that penny in my pocket saying a prayer for the person born the same year it was made. One day I decided to send the penny to them but prayed about it first and felt like God said, “No, this is between you and Me”. That's when I knew that my prayers needed to continue and I did not need to share this with the person who this little penny reminded me of. I pray knowing that the most important person knows the scars of the person I love. God knows the full truth of the scars I can see as well as those I don’t know about. He knows every scar on my heart and the hearts of others. Theirs bring Him tears just as mine do but, like the little penny; they do not change our value; not on earth and not in heaven. We are treasures to Him just as we are; scars and all.


Luke 15:9-10 and when she found the coin she called her friends and neighbors together saying rejoice with me for I have found the coin that was lost. Likewise, I tell you there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents.

Love,
Nana