A Pocket Full of Quarters? One woman's journey across America [GIVEAWAY]

My son was hit by a drunk driver several years ago and spent six weeks in the hospital. Quarters were necessary as my life revolved around rare trips to the snack machines. I wasn't going to leave my son's side! I was grateful not only for quarters, but the kindness of friends and family during that time. Cheryle Touchton is an author who believes that "a pocket full of quarters" is symbolic for giving and loving. In fact, she is on a journey across the U.S. handing out quarters to complete strangers. Touchton joins CML today to talk about that journey, her book, and more.

Suzie Eller: You begin your book with a story about a very difficult time in the ICU. Can you share that with us?

Cheryle Touchton: Our family was waiting in the ICU waiting room for my grandfather, who had had a heart attack. We all needed quarters for vending machines and payphones. Everyone hoarded their quarters. I told my minister and he brought me a role of quarters, which I proceeded to share with everyone around me. Through those quarters, we began to share our pain, prayer requests, and medical updates.

The night my grandfather died, there were 2 men in the ICU and 4 women in the ICU waiting room. I was there with my elderly grandmother and another young woman, my age, was there with her mother. The young woman and I heard a code being called in ICU and knew either her father or my grandfather was in distress. Not wanting to worry the elderly women, we stepped into the hall together. The nurses were running in and out with equipment and yelled for us to get out of the way. Together, she and I stepped into the phone booth where we had used so many of those quarters. We were so close and one of us suggested we pray. We held each other and prayed. The Holy Spirit filled that phone booth and we both knew we could face whatever we needed to face.

When I stepped out of that phone booth to hear that my grandfather had died, I had the strength I needed to tell my grandmother and everyone else in the family. Up until that time, I was an intellectual Christian but didn’t have much of a personal relationship with a living risen God. That night, in that phone booth, I had felt the presence of the Holy Spirit so strongly that I never wanted to be without that amazing power again. That was the beginning of my real spiritual growth and commitment to daily time in prayer, meditation, and Bible study. Since that time, I have began every day with asking God for knowledge of His will for me and the power to carry it out. Because I shared my quarters so long ago, my pockets were spiritually full when I needed them to be. My call to ministry and the purpose of the book Pocket Full of Quarters is to help people have full spiritual pockets.

SE: Is that why you are on a journey across America? What is your goal?

CT: I travel as a missionary, going where God tells me to do. I stop where ever there are people and listen to their stories. God prepares the way and sends people who need to hear about Jesus as well as people who already know Jesus but are struggling. After I listen, I let God give me the words that people need to hear. These Divine Appointments are so amazingly orchestrated that the person and I have no doubt that God has worked. I often meet parents who are Christians themselves but are busy that they have stopped taking their children to church.

SE: You mentioned that this leads to great discussions with people at all stages of faith, from not believing at all to the hope-filled seeker to the person that identifies faith with going to church. I love a quote from your book which talks about how "the original disciples began by loving Christ with their mind". Can you explain this further?

CT: The disciples were originally attracted to a Rabbi, a teacher. What he said to them made intellectual sense. They made the intellectual decision to follow Jesus. Over time, the fell in love with him with their hearts, souls, and finally their strength. After they met the risen Lord, they loved their neighbors so much that they were willing to die for them. Our personal journey is the same way. We make an intellectual decision to follow Jesus. Spiritual growth comes when we begin to love God more each day first with our minds and then with our hearts, soul, and strength. When we completely love God, love for our neighbors comes without any effort.

SE: So, what you are sharing is that it's more than church. It's life transforming.

Since we are a parenting site, let's talk about how we can show our children that they can love God with their whole mind, heart, soul and strength.

CT: We teach this by doing it ourselves. We need to demonstrate our total dependence on God for all things. In the previous question, there are tips for helping our children fall in love with God but if they do not see us in love with God, they will not be drawn to him.

SE: I know this is a real stumbling block for a lot of teens. I've worked with them for years (http://realteenfaith.com) and when I speak to parents and they want to know how to "fix" their kid's lack of faith, I encourage them to begin with their own relationship with God. They hear so many messages, and yet when you see someone trusting God and loving God beyond just going to temple or church, it becomes real.

You encourage your readers to love their neighbor as much as they love themselves. How do we teach our children that concept, and how will that affect our child?

CT: It is possible and when we live with children who love their neighbors as much as they do themselves, we will enjoy our parenting and children. We will reap the rewards for our entire life. We live in a culture that allows children to be selfish and feel as if the entire world revolves around them. We start with teaching them to love their neighbors by treating them as if they themselves are a beloved neighbor.

SE: Thanks, Cheryl. We'll be talking a little bit more later this week, but how can readers get in touch with you?

CT: They can visit our website a www.pocketfullofchange.org or e-mail Cheryle Touchton at Cheryle@pocketfullofchange.org. They can call Gail Golden at 904-316-5462 or e-mail Gail at Gail@pocketfullofchange.org to schedule a speaking event.

GIVEAWAY: One autographed copy of Pocket Full of Quarters to one lucky person who comments below!