The Wisdom to Change

Change: to alter, make or become different. I get discouraged a
lot. I think change should come easy and fast without sacrifice.

I thought about making a resolution for the new year: quit smoking, lose weight, eat healthy, exercise. It sounds good, but change is not easy.

A few years ago our lives were a mess. Greg and I drank heavily. On Saturday nights we would often put the kids to bed hungry and dirty. This was our life. Greg was an alcoholic, and I was in a deep depression. Wanting to make a change in our lives for the health and happiness of our children sounded so simple. Changing meant forgetting everything we thought we knew. Change also meant forgetting our past and everyone in it. Change meant having our phone number unlisted so that no one from our past could contact us.

As I write this, it is a Saturday night. Greg, Jesika, Samantha and Bubba are lying on the floor playing Chinese Checkers. It was my turn to make dinner, and I cooked grilled cheese and tomato soup (the children’s favorite), and Jesika did the dishes. Greg will run downstairs in a minute to check our laundry. Our tiny apartment is not spotless, but that’s OK. God has granted us the wisdom to change and the courage to forget our past and look forward to a better future.

— April Simmons