Last Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, was the best/ worst day ever. My friends and I decided that since it was Fat Tuesday we should eat chocolate cake and watch the Princess and the Frog since its based in New Orleans and a Mardi Gras parade. At one point, my friend Mattie and I made the dumb decision to give up bread for Lent. Lent is usually about giving up a small pleasure and offering that sacrifice up to God or to turn our life back towards what God wants us. Now we totally are not Catholic, and did it mainly to see if we could do it, we have to consciously think about it, and it was definitely a challenge. It just seemed like a good idea at the time. We ate everything in Matte's kitchen that was breaded, pizza, chicken strips, all of it, and I totally got sick afterwards. It was very unpleasant. Since bread was a vague term we made the agreement that bread was: tortillas bread, rolls, biscuits, breaded chicken, cake, pita bread, and pie. When I told another friend about this, Morgan, she wanted in on the action too. So Morgan, Mattie, and me have been struggling for these past few days on what to eat. I have realized that you do not know how much you eat something until you can't eat it anymore. Every Thursday, one of our Maroon & White Corps members, Mrs. Dixon, brings the best blueberry muffins and Mattie said she ate one bite threw it away and told me that muffins are bread and we can't eat them. Then I had to text Morgan to tell her to add it to the list. Same thing happened this weekend when we went to All-Campus retreat. Our choir director, Rachel Markham, graciously bought us two donuts, and a kolache each and I had to tell her the sad truth about what we were doing and texted Morgan about it, and texted us back saying JESUS DIED ON A CROSS FOR YOU!!! FOR YOU!! And then proceeded to ask, if pop tarts were considered a bread, and we said yes. If we have to suffer through a car ride of smelling delicious donuts, then you can skip breakfast. By now you are probably wondering how our definition of bread works, well I have no idea. We just kind of text each other and ask if this is considered a bread. I have realized how much accountability works and how much it means to me.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up”!
1 Thessalonians 5:11 "Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing”.
Accountability is a huge part of the Christian faith and building quality and deep relationships that will help us in our faith and in our life. An accountability partner is not a therapist, that you ask questions of and seek answers from. An accountability partner is someone who is willing to consider the desires and wishes of another before there own. It's not a therapy session, where it is one sided, or a time to catch up and talk about the latest gossip. It is about going beyond the mundane and surface-level conversations and allowing someone to see inside of you, to see past the smokescreens that we put up. God places people in our lives to see things that we cannot see, and to encourage and build up, to correct, love and protect us.
I know for me having that simple accountability of a friend in keeping me focused on my eating habits, made me realize how powerful it is. I am independent women *cue the Destiny's Child song* who likes to deal with my problems on my own. Giving up bread was just a stubborn challenge, which was a dumb idea, but it is turning into something much more than that. Every time I think, complain, or talk about bread I pray about it, and focused on how much Christ gave up for me and focus more on him. So yeah, I guess I am participating in Lent, my beginning intentions were not, but now I know I need my friends to encourage me and God's strength to help me. This small act of giving up bread has already impacted my life already and it's only been five days.
If we all have a willingness to surrender ourselves, all of our problems and weaknesses to God and choose to make ourselves accountable to others, we will all experience a freedom and power we have never known before.
Wishing God's best for you,
Lindsey R.
A friend loves you all the time, and a brother helps in time of trouble -.Proverbs 17:17
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