Revisiting the Bad 'Ole Days

This last weekend was Mandy's birthday, and since I knew I wasn't going to the Harvest Crusade, I decided to come down to Santa Clarita and hang out at her house. It was fun, but I have to admit that I got slightly sucked back into some old habits. No bueno.

On Friday night, our old friend, Mike, took us out to this bar in Encino. I didn't intend on drinking, but the "Palmdale boys" (friends of Mike's from Palmdale) bought me a drink. I only had the one (and after not drinking for over a year, half of that sucker got me buzzed), but I still felt like I was being a bad witness. Especially because these same people have seen me SMASHED in the past. Even though I don't believe there is anything wrong with having a drink or two here and there, as long as you don't get drunk (Ephesians 5:18) , I still felt hypocritical.

Then a few times, I caught myself saying some bad words. Now I didn't get so far as to drop any F-bombs or anything that bad, but I still wasn't too happy with some of the language that came out of my mouth.... even if the people around me woudn't have even noticed I said the words. The bottom line is that we are not supposed to have anything come out of our mouth that is not beneficial and edifying to those around us (Ephesians 4:29).

There are other things I've done lately that I thought I was done doing, but I won't go into details.

I really don't like that I can so easily slip back into old habits. I know that we are not perfect and that we still have to struggle with our flesh. I especially know that the enemy is going to step things up now that I've been baptized and am trying to be obedient to the Lord, but I thought I was past all this stuff. I guess I also need to step it up: be in the Word every day; limit time around non-believers; continue to pray that the Lord will fill me with His Holy Spirit and convict my heart of sins (both apparent and hidden); etc.

Thank you, Lord, for being so forgiving and merciful. Please continue to work in and through me.

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Well, other than all that negative stuff up there, I had a nice weekend with Mandy and the kids. I finally got to see David, her newest grandson. He is pretty cool. Got to hang out with Ruben and Baby in the pool, and was able to refresh my tan. Ate plenty of good food! Too much food actually, but it was worth it. (New favorite BBQ restaurant: T-Bo's in Canyon Country... their garlic mash potatoes are the BOMB!) Then had an awesome brunch with Mandy, Baby, and Jen. Hopefully, I'll be taking a little weekend trip with Jen to Phoenix pretty soon. Should be cool. Maybe I can redeem myself and be a good witness to Jen. We'll see.....