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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: WOUND (11/26/20)
I was poor but I wanted to change the world.

I never knew I was poor until a classmate told me. I asked my mother. She said “yes,” but she emphasized we were “rich” because our family believed in Jesus.

Tears would flow when my family and I watched a television show where the hero won. I quickly left the room so no one would see my emotional reaction. The hero may not have been rich but he changed the world.

I was poor but I wanted to be comfortable.

In high school I excelled, voted by my peers as “most likely to succeed.” As a freshman in college I took my classwork very seriously. However, I came to realize I was failing socially. To succeed I knew I needed friends and how to work as a team to achieve goals. My grades suffered slightly but becoming a “fuller” person was reality.

I was poor but I wanted a brick home.

To move upward, I needed a symbol I was no longer poor. That became a brick home. I married, landed my dream job, and our income qualified us for the house we wanted. There was plenty of room in our new three-bedroom brick home when we were blessed with a daughter.

I was no longer poor but I wanted more.

I built and invested in apartments, constructed a much larger house, and spent every dime to go after more and more. Then the economy crashed and I didn’t have any cash reserves. My failures led to bankruptcy.

I was wounded and poor again.

Lifting myself up became my goal. I repeatedly failed. I looked in the mirror and saw a man who had fallen, in part, along the way he had dropped God from his life. I repented and vowed to change myself and the world with God as my Guide.

I changed from poor to being rich in Jesus.

Christian activity became the focus of my life. Starting a pregnancy support center, becoming involved in prison ministry, and helping the homeless. We had income to barely survive but that no longer bothered us because we had placed God as Director of our lives.

I’m no longer poor.
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This article has been read 402 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Anne Warden 
12/05/20
Your story blesses me. Yes, we're never poor when we're living for Jesus, when we've come to the point Paul did and can say, "I have learned, in whatever state I am in, to be content."

Thank you for this powerful piece. I hope it places high.
Bruce Phenix
12/08/20
You've told your moving story with great honesty and have clearly achieved a deep and valuable understanding of what rich and poor really mean. Thank you for sharing your insights.
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
12/08/20
The way you brought this full-circle was quite brilliant. Your opening line pulled me in right away. The inner conflict is one so many of us can relate to.
In my opinion, if you added actual dialog, this would be even more effective. Even if this is a true story and you can't remember dialog verbatim, it's okay to do and is done often in creative nonfiction. Switching some passive lines to active ones would help show more than tell too.
Your writing flows smoothly and you transition from one part to another seamlessly. It's definitely on topic with a clear Christian message. Not only did I enjoy this, but I also was given the gift of insight. You helped me see my dreams and desires in a new way. Thank you for sharing.
Barbara Culler 
12/08/20
Well done!