EVERYONE DOES NOT HAVE TO LEARN THE HARD WAY
By Jessica Weaver
“The choices you make today build the house you will live in tomorrow.” I can still hear my Honors Algebra II teacher repeating that powerful quote as she introduced the lesson on augmented matrices. She was one of those teachers who creatively incorporated ‘life lessons’, that many of us will never forget, into our math curriculum. Just like we had to deal with the either wise or foolish choices we made each step of the way solving an augmented matrix, we have to live with the consequences of our daily life-choices. She told us a lot of stories of people whose lives were never the same because of a foolish choice. Many of us talked about these stories and vowed to never abuse our bodies by taking in drugs or alcohol. Everyone does not have to learn the hard way. Some of us learn from other’s mistakes that we have heard about or read about.
Here is my paraphrase of one of her stories that I will never forget. A girl named Susie moved to a new town, and much to her surprise, Jeff, the cute captain of the football team, asked her out. The problem was that her parents told her she was too young to date. She really wanted to be accepted at her new school, so she decided to ‘sort of’ lie to her parents, thinking it would be just fine. She asked to stay at a girl friend’s house, knowing that she really intended on going to a party with Jeff. The evening started out innocent enough, but soon Jeff was half drunk, and he refused to leave the party until he had smoked a couple of joints. They jumped into the car, not thinking he was too drunk to drive. To Susie’s surprise, Jeff drove to a secluded area, parked the car, and started forcing himself on her sexually. With all her might, Susie pushed Jeff away and demanded that he take her home. Angrily, Jeff turned on the car, floored the gas, and in a matter of seconds they were going too fast. Susie begged and pleaded for him to slow down, but, out of spite, he just chose to drive even faster. She didn’t remember the force of the impact, but she heard someone scream, “Call 911 ! These kids are in trouble and so is the couple in the other car.”
Later at the hospital, a nurse gently told Susie that Jeff was dead, the couple in the other car died, and that she was in very critical condition. As Susie cried, she prayed that God would forgive her; all she had wanted was a night of fun. She asked the nurse to tell the couple’s family that she wished she could return their loved ones to them and to tell her mom and dad that she was so sorry for lying to them. The nurse just stood there with tears in her eyes as she took Susie’s hand and watched her take her final breath. A fellow nurse later reprimanded Susie’s nurse for not agreeing to the young girl’s dying request. Looking heart broken, the nurse replied, “I could not tell her parents that she was sorry she lied to them because the couple in the other car was her mother and father.”
An even more eye-opening, unforgettable story left us all very sober. Compromising and giving into peer pressure caused permanent damage to everyone involved. Here is my version of the story. Four high school guys were out looking for a little fun. The three seniors had invited a sophomore boy named Greg to join them. The older boys decided to buy some beer, so they could “relax and enjoy themselves”. Greg had never had a beer, but he had a few so he would not look like a sissy to the ‘cool’, older guys. After a while, one of the boys passed around a bottle of pills. Greg thought, “What will it hurt? My parents will never find out, and I really want these guys to accept me.” Greg later compromised again by taking a hit on a joint. Needing something a little more exciting to do, they decided to drive around. Seeing a car parked, the older boys decided to scare the occupants by banging on the car and yelling. When the driver got out, the “wasted” boys beat him up. Then one of the boys had the bright idea of putting a bag over the girl’s head, so she would not see who was forcing himself on her. The three older boys did it, and then told Greg he had to do it, too, or they would beat him up. As Greg finished, the girl began fighting, the bag came off her head, and their eyes met. The girl Greg had just raped was his sister.
After hearing stories like those, many of my peers and I decided to stay away from drugs and alcohol. We did not have to learn the hard way. I have decided to build my life upon the Truth of God’s Word, and I want to be a walking example to my friends of one who can have fun while making decisions that will not hurt me, my body, or someone else’s feelings or body. Galatians 6:7 tells us, “A man reaps what he sows.” I choose to sow “the right stuff” because the choices I make today will affect the house I live in tomorrow.