Psalms 33:6-7 MSG
[6-7] The skies were made by God’s command; he breathed the word and the stars popped out. He scooped Sea into his jug, put Ocean in his keg.
https://bible.com/bible/97/psa.33.6-7.MSG
The old streets of San Juan came alive every morning. The cobblestone roads glistened after the night’s gentle rain, colorful Spanish colonial buildings reflected the Caribbean sunshine, and the salty breeze from the Atlantic Ocean carried the sound of laughter, music, and merchants preparing for another busy day.
Among the many young people walking those historic streets was a sixteen-year-old girl named Abril.
She loved standing on the ancient walls of Castillo San Felipe del Morro, watching ships disappear beyond the horizon. She often wondered where they were going and what kind of lives the people aboard them lived.
More than anything, Abril dreamed of living a life filled with purpose, freedom, and opportunity.
One afternoon after school, she met her grandmother in the courtyard of their family home. As they shared fresh tropical fruit beneath the shade of a mango tree, Abril sighed.
“I wish my life would change.”
Her grandmother smiled gently.
“What kind of change are you waiting for?”
“I don’t know,” Abril admitted. “Maybe one day we’ll have more money. Maybe someone will give me an opportunity. Maybe everything will simply get better.”
Her grandmother looked toward the blue sky for a moment before speaking.
“Do you know what waiting often becomes?”
Abril shook her head.
“The longest road to nowhere.”
Those words settled into the silence.
Seeing the puzzled look on her granddaughter’s face, the elderly woman picked up two seeds that had fallen from the mango tree.
She placed one seed into a small flowerpot and held the other in her hand.
“These two seeds are exactly alike.”
Abril nodded.
“But only one has been planted.”
They watered the soil together.
“The seed in my hand has great potential,” her grandmother continued, “but it will never become a tree simply because it has potential.”
She pointed to the planted seed.
“This one made the only choice that matters—it entered the ground.”
Abril laughed.
“Seeds don’t choose.”
“No,” her grandmother replied with a smile, “but people do.”
The words lingered in Abril’s heart.
The next day, instead of spending hours scrolling through social media, she borrowed a book about personal finance from the local library.
The following week, she attended a free community seminar about entrepreneurship.
She began listening to educational podcasts while walking to school.
She kept a notebook filled with ideas she learned about saving, investing, budgeting, and creating value.
Months passed.
Her friends often asked why she spent so much time learning.
Abril would smile.
“I’m planting seeds.”
Slowly, her thinking began to change.
She no longer asked,
“Why don’t I have enough money?”
Instead, she asked,
“What skill can I learn that creates value?”
She no longer wondered,
“When will someone help me?”
Instead, she asked,
“How can I become someone who solves problems?”
She discovered something remarkable.
Wealth was not arriving all at once.
It was quietly growing through hundreds of small decisions.
Every book she read.
Every dollar she saved.
Every new skill she practiced.
Every wise financial choice.
Each one was another seed planted.
Years later, while many of her classmates were still waiting for the “right opportunity,” Abril had already begun building one.
Looking back, she realized the greatest change in her life had not started with money.
It had started with a decision.
She often shared this lesson with younger students:
“Do not wait, hoping things will change. You must initiate change. Wealth is not an event; it is a series of choices made over time, guided by financial education. You do not have to start with a lot—you can start with a choice. That is why financial education is not optional; it is the foundation upon which a better future is built.”
Do not wait, hoping things will change. You must initiate change
And whenever people asked what transformed her life, she simply smiled and said,
“It wasn’t my circumstances that changed first.
It was my thinking.”
For she had learned that the future belongs not to those who wait for opportunity, but to those who prepare for it.
As the people of Puerto Rico wisely say:
“El que quiere pescado, que se moje los pies.”
“Whoever wants fish must be willing to get their feet wet.”