Spare Change

I recently came across a baggie full of change on my kitchen counter.  I asked my husband what it was for and he explained it was spare change which was sitting in his car.  You know the little compartment in your car that you throw quarters, nickles, dimes and pennies in after going through a drive through window.  You never know when you might need spare change.  It reminded me of a post I had written on my former blog www.dawnpasco.blogspot.com about Mattie Stepanek.  I thought I would share it again here.

Oprah describes Mattie Stepanek as one of the brightest lights to ever grace her stage and the planet. Poet, Mattie Stepanek, appeared on the Oprah show numerous times before his passing in 2004 from a rare form of muscular dystrophy. It is impossible for me to watch a show about him without going through a box of Kleenex. Oprah interviewed his mother Jeni on one of her favorite guests of all times shows. Jeni has written a book about her life with Mattie called Messenger: The Legacy of Mattie Stepanek. Jeni also suffers from muscular dystrophy and has buried all four of her children who died from the disease. She said Mattie’s spirit continues to inspire her every day. She shared the story of how Mattie learned of Oprah. The story brings me to tears just retelling it. They were going into a thrift store and Jeni spied a nickle on the ground. She told Mattie it must be his lucky day and Mattie said that means someone else is unlucky because they lost their money. He was six years old at the time and insisted they give the nickle to the store manager because someone would be looking for it. The manager sort of laughed and questioned what you could buy with a nickle. Mattie’s response was a gift. The manager told him to keep it and find a gift. He loved books and discovered one about a girl who went from rags to riches, Oprah Winfrey, and inside the cover it was marked 5 cents. He didn’t know who Oprah was, but the book caught his attention. He read the book on the way home from the store. Later he told his mother that God put it into his heart that he and Oprah were to be together for a few years and are part of each others reason for being.Ever since I learned of this story in May of 2011, I look at spare change a lot differently.