Lime in the Coconut

Day 14 of COVID-19 lock down, we are finding new ways of staying entertained. Last night I decided I would perfect my homemade margarita. Stocked with:

• Fresh oranges, lemons, and limes
• Silver Tequila
• Cointreau
• Salt and sugar
• And a playlist based on “Lime in the Coconut” I was ready!

One sip turned into more sips as I worked through sticky fruit juices and various techniques of blending…shaken vs stirred. By the time Josh came home, I was feeling it. He had no idea what he was walking into as I started dancing around the kitchen singing “Docta’ is there nothing I can take. I said DOC-TA!”

I apologized to him saying I had no intentions of getting ‘buzzed,’ but doing tastings on an empty stomach proved to be a bad idea.

He went upstairs to take out his contacts, and it seemed at random my playlist switched from ‘Spring Break Party’ to “Amazing Grace.” What a buzzkill – I quickly asked Google to play ANYTHING else. (Though it was too late, conviction started to sink in.) I tried to push it away by cranking the tunes, creating my own disco by switching the lights on and off in sync with the music, and making my left-footed husband dance with me in the kitchen when he came downstairs.

Dancing around was so much fun I decided to keep the party vibes going and made another ‘Rita. I was not a sip into the salty, sweet, bitter beverage before my music again switched to Christian worship. In all my times owning a Google Home, it has never played such contrasting songs, one after another.

Conviction sank deeper as I offered my tasty marg to my husband and switched to water.

“Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray” 1 Peter 4:7

My personal conviction as a Christian is we are not meant to expose our bodies or our minds to drugs or alcohol in a fashion that causes us to become buzzed, drunk, or out of control, and I struggle with this.

As an Enneagram 7, my greatest weakness is gluttony, an over-consumption of anything that creates ‘good vibes:’ food, alcohol, travel, etc., Personality type aside, I LOVE to party. I enjoy hosting friends with dinners paired with a complimentary wine. I enjoy drinking and keeping up with the people I am with. I enjoy the feeling of getting buzzed and having a good time. (Though I have wondered if there is a lie that “Alcohol is a good time.”)

Truly I struggle to reign myself in. Part of me wants to and part of me just wants to have a ‘good time,’ but the part that does want to reign it in is greater than the part that does not. Paraphrasing what the Apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 4:7

“Think of this struggle as a weaning from your old and wrong habits of living. Then you’ll be able to live out your days free! Free to pursue what God wants instead of what you want.

Katie, you have already put in your time in that God-ignorant way of life, partying night after night, a drunken and wasted life. Now it’s time to be done with it for good. Of course, your old friends (even your old self) do not understand why you don’t join in with the party lifestyle anymore. But you don’t have to give an account to them. You do not have to be a people-pleaser. Is it better to please your spirit-given conviction, people’s expectations of you, or your own selfish desires?”

This is my belief and my conviction that I would not push on someone else or judge someone else for. I believe that if I am convicted about drinking and getting buzzed, but I do it anyway, then it is sin/wrong. The Apostle Paul in the Message translation of Romans 14:23 says it this way.  

“Cultivate your own relationship with God, but don’t impose it on others. You’re fortunate if your behavior and your belief are coherent. But if you’re not sure, if you notice that you are acting in ways inconsistent with what you believe—some days trying to impose your opinions on others, other days just trying to please them—then you know that you’re out of line. If the way you live isn’t consistent with what you believe, then it’s wrong.”

So in conclusion, I believe the Spirit killed my buzz with uninvited worship music last night, and I am so grateful. It is an answer to a long withstanding prayer of mine to be consumed with the Spirit and not with alcohol, a prayer of mine to live unto my Belief instead of unto myself.

Thanks for allowing me to share this with you.

God bless!