Everything In Moderation?

This is so fun! I get to take over Tracey's blog! Heh heh heh. I feel all powerful. Okay, and totally honored that she invited me to be a guest blogger. That, and cracked up to think that she knew me well enough to know my answer would be "YES!" even though I didn't get her email in time.

I first met Tracey when we were both working at Nelson dorm, way back when. At first I thought she was this normal person, but I soon got to know her and the truth came out. :) We've had some fun times together, and she did me the honor of being my official wedding photographer! We haven't actually seen each other since May 9, 1999...sad but true. Hopefully we'll meet up at the next Lectureship...or two!

This fine Saturday, my post is going to be about one of my pet peeves that Tracey recently thought was funny. So I thought I would expound a little more on the subject. :)

For various reasons, it really irks me when people glibly say, "Everything in moderation." Yes, there are some things that we should definitely be moderate about. But think about the really important things in life for a moment.

Is Christianity moderate? Are you happy to be a moderate disciple of Jesus? What does God think about lukewarm Christians? Do you think that most of the Christians you see around you today are moderate Christians? I do, and I'm sadly but honestly including myself in that category. It really frustrates me and it is something that I am trying to change in myself. What would happen to the world if every Christian became extreme for Christ?

What about health and diet? Can you moderately consume and do things that you know are bad for you in the long term? Smoking once a week won't kill you, right? What about sodas? You sorta know those are probably horrible for you, but drinking one a day won't kill you, right? Now, if you know those things are bad for you---you researched it and chose to keep doing it anyway, that's FINE. I'm not judging you. Just don't brush it off with, "Everything in moderation" without ever learning more about it first. Take responsibility for your actions and know that your decisions will have consequences. If not tomorrow, then maybe 10 years from now.

Those are just two examples off the top of my head. Now I would like to explain something about myself. I used to be a fairly moderate person. I mean, there were a few very weird, quirky things about me, but generally I liked to try and fit in with the crowd. Over the years, I have changed. I'm not that extreme in my own eyes...but I'm aware that some things that Kevin and I have chosen to do in our lives seem way out there to most people. Things like: ministry, our diet, homeschooling, opting for a HBAC, not taking pills for birth control (hey I didn't say we don't *practise* birth control!), not allowing our kids to watch tv... Okay hold on now. If you're getting mad at me because you think I'm judging you, let me just clarify...I'm not saying that those are the right decisions, period. I'm just saying that those are the right decisions for *us* at this point in time. Obviously, the things that we are doing are not the right decisions for everybody. We're not disillusioned, I promise. We don't really think we know it all. :) I very much respect decisions that others have made for themselves.

The thing is...I honestly wonder when people live their lives by the "Everything in moderation" mantra, if maybe they're copping out. It can be an excuse to do anything they want, and not have to really think about it and take responsibility for the consequences. When in doubt, just take the middle road, right? It is so much easier to just do what everybody else is doing, and fit in with your friends and with society at large. The reason Kevin and I do such odd things, is because we have thought through, researched, prayed about and discussed many aspects of our lives. We're also constantly re-examining and changing. After all that trouble, if we end up with a decision that makes us look extreme to others, then so be it. At least we've looked at all our options instead of just settling for the norm. Trust me, it is not easy to do the things we're doing. I often want to just throw in the towel. Everything in our lives would be so much easier if we could just be like everyone else. I think about this literally every day. I only persevere because I believe that we're doing our best for our family.

If I have offended anyone with this post, I'm sorry. I promise that I don't walk around looking at everyone and judging the things people do. I'm sadly a lot more egocentric than that...I tend to obsess about what I do rather than think about what others do. I guess it just simply irks me when people say, "Everything in moderation", that's all.

Sarah