by Staff Writer Graceland King

The voices rose, bounced off the walls and snuck their way in through the door to my room, waking me from my sleep. I was rubbing the drowsiness from my eyes when I heard my mother’s yelling voice. I sighed heavily. What could it be this time?

I stealthily crept out of my room and down the hall to where the argument resonated. Making sure to pause every now and then whenever a creak in the floor boards sounded underneath my feet, I finally made it close enough to see my mother standing in front of her brother who sat on the bottom of the stairs.

“I told you Steve! I don’t know how many times I’ve gotten you out of trouble. You started coming back to church again and you’ve been sober and clean for months now. You’ve gotten yourself a job and the money you’re getting is enough to start up a new life for yourself. Why do you keep putting all that you’ve worked for towards all the things that tear you up and leave you empty?” My uncle cringed from the scolding of my mother, couldn’t even raise his head to meet her eyes.

I am not writing this to expose my uncle’s problems or to vent my feelings of pity or anger for him always being dragged away by alcohol or drugs. I am writing this because I want to share what type of control money can have over an individual. A loved one.

You see, all of my life I’ve known my uncle to be in and out of jail, to arrive drunk at our doorstep and to see him as a completely different person then the loving uncle who always gave us piggy back rides and candy whenever he was sober. Then there was a day when he admitted himself into a rehabilitation program and we thought that things would turn around.

After the program was finished, he came to live with my family and me. He went to church, brought his other friends to listen to the Word of God and receive eternal life. Since my uncle couldn’t provide for himself without e a job, my parents supported him. He was set in a place where he never actually had a large amount of money in his hands. But, that changed when he finally did get a job as a fisherman (who do receive large sums of money for the risky things they do).

With my uncle’s own, hard earned money, he could dispose of it as he desired. What do you think became of that man’s money? My uncle bought alcohol, drugs and even ended up in jail again.

Money can control a person. It can be what makes you give into temptation. Or you could rely on God to remove the bridge from money to sin. He can also help you build a bridge from money to success.

Graceland King is a talented 15-year-old writer who loves to write poems, short stories, and lyrics. She plays the bass in a youth praise band and continually tries to keep her spiritual fire burning!