Thoughtful Living

We've been moving quickly on the path to crunchiness, and I know some of my family thinks I'm out of my cloth-diapering, tree-hugging mind, so I thought I'd attempt to explain myself. For us, it's been as simple (and as difficult) as trying to extend our beliefs and convictions about Christianity into our consumer lives. As cheesy as it is, I try to "do what Jesus would do" in my everyday life interactions...I try to be patient with my kids, friendly with the grocery store clerk, courteous on the road... I'm far from perfecting it, but it's a goal I strive for. Over the past year as I've been reading and learning more about the environment and our effect on it, I have slowly realized that my consumer actions have as real of an impact on others as my social actions do. God calls us to love and care for one another, but he also charges us with taking care of the world he gave us. Suddenly using 20 plastic bags for grocery shopping every week seemed in line with kicking a puppy or yelling at my kids. All of those things have a very real negative impact on others--even though some may be harder to see.
I'm trying to practice thoughtful living. We do a lot of things just because, well, that's the way we've always done them. I don't want to do that anymore. I want to think about things before I do them. How will using disposable diapers vs. cloth diapers effect the environment? Do I want pesticides used on my produce? How does buying this coffee effect the poor farmers in South America? Do I really need individually wrapped everything? We are so used to living a disposable life because it's convenient-- but is it worth the cost? I don't pretend to have the "answer" if there is one, and I'm not saying that any specific action is what everyone must do...I'm just saying that I want to stop and think before I buy. Having children has made me more aware that I want to leave the Earth a little better than I found it. If my new-found crunchiness is annoying, you can blame the girls. :)