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On the Wagon

I have made a lot of lifestyle changes over the past two and a half years.  I am incredibly grateful for all of the support and encouragement I have received from my family and friends as I have developed new physical, spiritual, and dietary disciplines.  I have earned quite the reputation for discipline and follow through.  I made another big change back in January but have not had many conversations about it, because even I was not sure that I would follow through. 

I stopped drinking alcohol, indefinitely. 

In a lot of ways this has been a long-time coming.  I had already significantly tapered my alcohol consumption in conjunction with Whole30.  I knew God and my body were both encouraging me give it up altogether, but the idea of doing life completely alcohol-free was intimidating to this True Blood Texan.  So much like Jonah, I continued on in a different direction believing this strong of a commitment was just unnecessary.  Finally, I have come to a place of obedience with confidence in what I know I have been called to do.  It still feels weird, but it is a decision I have made and I am going to stick with it for my foreseeable future.  This blog post articulates five factors and influences that led to this decision.   

1.      Eat Like a Champion//Best in, Best out
      You may have seen my favorite hashtag- #eatlikeachampion.  For me, “eating like a champion” means that I put the best into my body (food and drink), so that I can get the best out of my body (physical performance, emotional stability, etc.).  Prior to Whole 30, I rarely noticed the effects of alcohol the next day.  But now, with my body accustomed to receiving this higher level of care, I can TELL the difference.  I would notice delays in processing, lowered motivation levels, and feeling sick, from even just half of a beer the night before. 

2.      Propagating a Myth
      My husband, Matt, and I both have huge hearts for helping kids and consequently we regularly have kids staying with us.  Most are teenagers, and come to us believing that alcohol consumption is a normal and necessary part of socialization as an adult.  I personally have never believed this, but I unintentionally reinforced and propagated this myth with my own behaviors.  This left me with some big regrets.  Even adults can get together socially and have good “grown-up fun” with or without alcohol.  The conversations and love for one another are vital, the alcohol is optional.  I want my personal choices to communicate that.

3.      Scripture Encourages Leaders to Abstain from Alcohol
      I personally do NOT believe that scripture says it is a sin to drink alcohol.  I do, however, believe there is a theme in scripture encouraging leaders to abstain from alcohol- particularly in the Book of Proverbs, my favorite book of the Bible (Proverbs 31:4-5, 23:29-35, 20:1).  God is calling me to lead some big initiatives in my life and is already working to develop me as a leader.  Knowing this, it is logical for me conclude that consuming alcohol is not appropriate for me in this season. 

4.      Natural Highs
      When I was younger, I used to revel in the fact that many people would mistake me for drunk when I was completely sober.  I would hang out with friends and the later it got, the sillier I became.  This is a pretty natural bodily response as our bodies produce extra adrenaline and other things to compensate for sleep deprivation.  When I started drinking, this went away.  I never had these emotions and sense of carefree living apart from alcohol.  More frequently, my body was responding to alcohol with weariness and needing a nap; often cranky and short fused.  Now that I am no longer drinking, my body is once again producing natural effects that resemble drunkenness.  I laugh til it hurts and get silly and loud, all without any help from subtances and I once again revel in the body that God gave me. 


5.      Bottom Line
      My goals are too high and my dreams too big to knowingly sabotage my body to perform at anything less than 100%.  I know the things God is calling me to.  I have worked way too hard and made way too many sacrifices to get to where I am today.  Alcohol does not bring me any levels of enjoyment to justify unraveling my efforts.

For me this was a decision largely tied to my pursuit of excellence.  The decision was influenced by physical and spiritual circumstances.  I might someday enter back into a season where I feel it is appropriate to once again enjoy sharing a drink on occasion, but not anytime soon.  I am eight months in, and I don’t miss it. 

Has there ever been a time in your life when you knew you were being called to give something up?  I would love to hear about it and how you responded!  Did you postpone obedience?  Are you currently walking through a Jonah season?  Is there a social norm that you are questioning the relevance of in your own personal decisions?



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