As iron sharpens iron...

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17

Every Tuesday night, some of my girlfriends and I get together for "accountability night." This has become one of the highlights of my week. Tonight, five of us just sat around in my apartment, sipping hot tea, laughing and talking about life. It is such a blessing to fellowship with one another and share what God is doing in our lives.

For me, fellowship with other Christians has always been an important part of my walk with the Lord. Often times, God uses those around me to speak to me and sharpen me (ouch!). Having this accountability group this semester has been so neat because we share prayer requests and check up on each other throughout the week. For example, tonight, I shared with them how I struggle with memorizing scripture and I asked them to hold me accountable to it. I wish I could say that I have the self-motivation to do things like that on my own, but sometimes I really need my sisters and brothers in Christ to hold me accountable.

When I was in high school, I had an accountability partner. I would spend the night at her house every Tuesday night (I even had my own little drawer where I would keep my pjs!) and we would pray together and study the Bible. Our friendship became so deep because it was centered on the Lord. I don't get to see her as often anymore, but she is still a dear friend and I will always treasure those times that we spent praying together and encouraging one another.

Though it is very important to have friendships with people who are not believers, I think that God desires for us to have fellowship with other Christians as well. A couple months ago, I was in a place where I had no contact with any other Christians for about two weeks. I didn't realize how hard that would be on me until I got there and felt utterly alone. Jesus became so real to me in that time because He was the only one that I could cling to. That experience reminded me of how thankful I should be for the Christian family and friends that I have.

That's my thought for the night. I'll try not to make my blogs too terribly long (I tend to get carried away!)

Rest in Him today!
Meredith

p.s. On a completely unrelated and not so serious note, I had my first energy drink today. I never buy those things, but this one was given out at a basketball game so I figured I'd try it since I had a test and wanted to make sure I stayed alert. Wellllll...I don't know if my mind was just messing with me or what, but I felt so strange and gittery in my class. I couldn't sit still and everything seemed exceptionally funny to me. At one point, my professor got tongue tied and I busted out laughing! And this was not a subtle laugh...it was loud...really loud! So I was bent over with my head on the desk and everyone in the class was laughing at this point. When I opened my eyes I saw a little red dot on my paper and realized that my professor was pointing his laser at me and everyone was staring at me...how embarrassing! So I've decided it's probably best if I stay away from energy drinks for a while!