How much would you pay for a Widow's Mite?

At two am this morning I got an interesting SMS saying "how much did you pay for your widows mite we've been quoted 550 US dollars"

Now I did have my phone by the bed because a friend is facing a health challenge and I know the night is the worst time, so I said contact me anytime and meant it. Also sometimes someone from our church living in Laos needs to contact me for support but I wasn't expecting a shopping message !

2000 years ago a widow gave a small coin (about 1 cent or 5 cents) into the offering and unknown to her Jesus was watching. He commended her not for the value of the gift but for the heart attitude of giving all she had. Jesus also said that her gift would be talked about for a long time.

Not sure if even He was picturing my blackberry jumping around at 2am !!
For the record I paid way less than they were being quoted and one of our business friends on a subsequent visit to Israel negotiated harder and paid less than me.

Interesting today that now this coin is named after this nameless woman and we are paying a lot for it but trying to get a bargain in the process !

Sometimes it seems we want to link with a miracle and obedience to God but we want to negotiate a bargain on our own terms. Discount faith and living?

Instead of debating the price and competing with each other over terms maybe we should all just take a free look and remember what it symbolizes ... A woman who gave all she had . Someone who didn't let what they didn't have hold them back but gave what she did have.

The question isn't what should I pay for this coin but what should I learn from it.
A heart of radical love that gave everything as a gift to God.