Wishes and Costs

by Cheryl Merrick

I wish I had your family
Cost: 35 years of study, prayer, and communication

I wish I could run like you
Cost: 6 hours a week early morning running for 10 years; plus sweat

I wish I had your job
Cost: 4 years of college; 10 years of underpaid jobs while working way up ladder


I wish I could lose weight
Cost: No desserts, pastas, or potatoes for a year

I wish my home was as neat as yours
Cost: 5 years of giving away things you don’t really need

I wish my children were as well behaved
Cost: Full time mothering- teaching and disciplining

I wish my home were paid for
Cost: 20 years of payments; clothes, cars, vacations not bought

I wish I were out of debt too
Cost: A monthly budget; Not buying if you don’t have the money to pay for it

I wish my children were doing as well in school as yours
Cost: 3 hours a day 5 days a week for 20 years helping with homework

But wishes are only wishes and can never come true
til the costs are fully and completely paid by you.