Addiction

     The first time I stopped at Buds in Longview, Texas, to see what the store was like, a large crowd had gathered, waiting for the doors to open. I joined them and heard a young lady make a strange comment.

     “When I reached for it, a man bit my thumb.”

     No sooner had she made the commented than the doors were unlocked, and everyone began to run toward the back of the store, where returned items from Walmart were marked down to very low prices. Merchandise began to fly off the shelves and into shopping buggies. No one took the time to inspect the items.

     That day I learned how to shop in a store where the prices were so low that I felt like a rich person who could buy whatever I wanted. I continued going for two years until Bud died and the store closed.

     During those two years, I began to understand the strange comment I had heard that first day.

     A man stepped on a girl’s foot, and her mother said he had meant to step on it. A man and a boy got into a fight over a clock. A woman cut another woman with a piece of broken glass in an argument over some dishes. Two women got into a tug-of-war over glass canisters. Many times, anger flared and feelings were hurt.

     Watching people fight over bargains made me realize how easily something can take control of us. Addiction can take many forms, and the consequences can reach far beyond ourselves.

Addiction

In conversation a young boy spoke to an old man.

"I'm not addicted to anything and never will be."

The old man said, "Come here and take my hand,

There's something I want you to see."

He showed him a little house with a family inside.

"That used to be my home, but booze got ahold of me. 

My wife was so ashamed she wanted to run and hide.

Even my children suffered, though I couldn't see.

Addiction can rear its ugly head in many different ways.

I've decided to change my life and seek help from above.

It's time to leave behind those long, unhappy days;

I read the Bible for guidance and to learn of God's love."

Many years passed before they met again by chance.

The old man had his family standing by his side.

He'd change his life and now stood proudly in his stance.

With God in his life, he walked with renewed pride.

                                                   Patricia Westbrook

   "No temptation has overtaken you except such that is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."  1 Corinthians 10:13, NKJV