| November 2, 2001 You know, those convictions God plants in your heart are so… hmm… what's the word? Well, I'll explain what happened and you can come up with your own description. It was 3 pm last night and I was trying to finish I Corinthians before I headed home for small group which was at 7 pm. As I read, Paul's words started to rub a raw nerve. I've been struggling with the issue of drinking. Not that I'm an alcoholic (in my mind at least!) but I've always viewed it as socially acceptable and not contrary to the spirit of Christianity (it's only an issue to those stuffy conservative ones). Paul didn't see it that way. He repeatedly asked the Corinths to abstain from specific actions and drinking was on the list. I blew it off the first couple of times I ran across it. Somewhere though, I started to let it soak in. I convinced myself a long time ago that drinking wouldn't affect what my friends think of my spiritual life. When Paul asked the Corinths to hold themselves to a higher moral ruler for the sake of those around them, I began to ask myself what my friends think when I drink with them and then I started to remember a few conversations I had ignored. Lindsay was worried that we wouldn't be able to hang out like we used to when she got back in Chicago from her Peace Corps stint. I reassured her that there was a bottle of vodka waiting for the two of us. She made some comment about being relieved that I wasn't the good little church girl Marshall had described. One Sunday, I went to the Local Option right after church to meet up with Pearl, Lindsay, Bobby, and Rick. I hadn't seen Pearl in forever so we played catch up and me getting pretty involved with Bethel came up. She teased me that good church girls don't drink. sigh. So these and other snippets of conversations ran through my head as I re-thought my old conviction. As I read farther and farther into I Corinthians, I felt myself breakdown. I knew that I had to stop drinking. I was being far too stubborn about challenging traditional conventions… well, at least with this one. ^_^ I couldn't wait to tell my U of C buddies because it struck me as hilarious that I'd feel this way and that they inspired me. When I explained, they weren't laughing especially since we planned on bar hopping that weekend. Bobby's response summed it up, "Lame." I actually did have a couple drinks with them but let Lindsay know that she couldn't rely on guilting me in the future. The girl is unparalleled in the art of guilt trips! So Eliza has been dry since the 4th of November. So what about clubbing? Well, I haven't been hit with a clear conviction yet but I'm leaning towards nixing that from my repertoire as well. I pray that there'll be a lot of weddings with DJs soon!! NEXT or... Go to TABLE OF CONTENTS |