When I was in high school, a good friend of mine started drinking alcohol at parties. I was interested in what all the fuss was about- but thank goodness I knew I could talk to my mom about anything.
We sat down and talked about it, and still to this day I remember her words, "You don't need to drink alcohol to have a good time." I've drank once since then- it was when a ex of mine begged me to go on one more date and we went to Charlies Comedy Club. The comedian was high on weed and we just sipped beer because I guess that's what you do at a comedy club. The whole scene was disgusting to me- the comedian started insulting the Bible and I felt dizzy and who in the world likes the taste of beer??? We left after a half-hour.
Not only was my mom right that you don't NEED alcohol to have fun, I couldn't have a good time with even a few sips in my system!
I bring this all up because of a birthday party we went to last night. A foreigner here, Tina, threw herself a huge birthday party. It started out so fun- we were at a great restaurant, laughing with our Chinese friends and toasting each other. Then they break out the white wine and all you-know-what breaks loose. Tina pressures everyone mercilessly to drink drink drink, and in our little town in China, refusing to toast with wine on a birthday can be a huge sign of disrespect. Chinese people feel they have no choice but to give in.
So I watched one of my teachers guiltily struggle down the awful stuff. Another one of my teachers got a drunken lecture for refusing to drink. Then Tina started berating Scott, who of course doesn't drink. *A note for single ladies: Find a man like mine. It's so much more attractive to have a man who can say NO then a man who can "hold his liquor".*
As if that's not bad enough, she wants to go to karaoke. So while we walked there , I held my teachers hand (who'd never had more than a sip of this stuff in her life) who was wobbling, ready to cry- and then we look around and Tina is no where to be found. She comes wobbling into the karaoke room twenty minutes later with two men in tow. She's trying to kiss them and she's yelling, drunkenly singing off key and shouting both English and Chinese cuss words.
Scott and I are trying to make the best of the whole thing. There was another foreigner there, named Kevin, so the three of us choose Back Street Boys and Aerosmith and jammed into the microphones. Then Kevin and Scott wanted to sing Desperado together, and I just had to sit down and laugh until I cried because they are both tone-deaf!
Despite the laughs we were getting from our singing and my one rap song (oh yeah), it was hard to ignore Tina's sad state, so Scott and I had to get out of there. She stopped us on the way out, clutching Scott's hands and leaning close into him (I'm ready for a throw- down at this point) but miraculously she got distracted before she could say whatever horrible thing was on her mind.
The next day, Tina didn't show up to teach her classes. No one can find her, no one knows even if she got home alright. Scott and I went to our teachers house for dinner and they asked for our advice- they have no idea what to do. Then they also asked us questions like "did you do this in America?" "Do most American women get drunk?" "Why does Tina do this?"
It turned into a great way to explain the difference between a heart that has been saved from that life-style, and a heart that is still searching. I keep pondering on what a blessing it is to not be a slave to my flesh, and what joy it is not to be caught up in such a sad life. I'm also thankful for all the godly advice my mom and dad gave that still rings true.
I really hope they can see the deep satisfaction that we have in Christ; most of all I hope it's something they want, too.
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