Goody two shoes and sick of it

This post is inspired by

Matt's post "The Most Boring Christian I Know" on his blog The Church of No People

And

Kyle's post "I Wish I Was A  Bad Kid" on his blog Kyle Reed TV

--------------------------------------------- 

When my parents found out they were going to have a little girl (me!), they decided they should start going to a church so their daughter would have a chance to grow up in a good environment.  Lo and behold, both Mom and Dad met Jesus over the next couple years, and Mom said some adorable prayer with me when I told her I, too, wanted to go to heaven.  WWJD bracelets whiz past as we take a quick look at the rest of my childhood.  Christian home, Baptist church, and four mission trips.  Only three years of my education were spent outside of Christian schools.  The furthest I'd ever been from my Christian life was the fifteen minute drive home from the Little Caesars I worked at with the rough kids for one summer.

Fast forward to 2011, and I'm a 23-year-old good girl who spends all her days and most of her nights in a tightly knit group of unbelievers from all different worldviews.  This, friends, has been the culture shock of moving here.  Not Korean culture, the culture of the world.

I have been offered more alcohol (and I have drunk more alcohol) in the last month and a half than in the rest of my life combined.  I have started picking up curse words, my views on couples living together before marriage are being challenged, and, actually, I think this is all a good thing.

Let me clarify.  I have been challenged.  For the first times!  How awesome is that?!

Moving to this community has put me in so many situations that have required the discernment I have been gathering for the last 23 years.  See, I've been challenged, and the Lord has been bringing me out on top.  (Ah, now you can agree that this is awesome, right?)

Now, I have purposed in my heart to live in a way that honors the Lord.  But, to be honest, I have a strange streak in me that wants to cut loose.  To have the risky encounters.  To get the wild stories.

Praise be to God for triumphing daily in my life!  To be honest again, I don't want to do anything I would regret.  I don't want to break the hearts of my loved ones and especially not the heart of Jesus!  I am thankful that He has set before me a different kind of adventure.  May He continue to turn my heart joyfully toward this path and may He continue to keep me from acting like an idiot.

The straight and narrow is called such for a reason.  It's a hard road to walk, but it's totally worth it.