Thank you.

“For what?”, you ask.

For holding me accountable.

“How in the heck am I doing that? What are you talking about!?!”

Let me explain.

At some point, over a year ago, I promised Donna and her daughter, Amanda, that I would pray for Donna as she began her journey through cancer treatments. We all promise to pray for folks, and if you’re like me, you’ve said the words, “I’ll be praying for you.” This time I wanted to assure her that I’d be praying every day.

So I began praying each morning and then I’d post an encouraging message borne out of my prayer time, tagging Donna and Mandy so they’d know I’m committed to pray each day. As I did this daily, God seemed to draw closer and closer. And I wanted Him more and more.

Then, to help my prayer time, I began a Bible-reading plan to read the Bible in a year. That sounds daunting, but was much easier than expected. I played an audio version and read along each day. It took about 15 minutes a day. 15 minutes. Seriously. I would then post a prayer on Facebook, birthed from my reading, tagging and encouraging Donna, Mandy, and their family. God continued to whisper encouragement into my heart and for the family, I believe, all the while, drawing me closer and closer to Him. He has been so faithful.

I finished that reading plan in January, and then I began journalling as a way to help the healing after leaving my longtime church. I would post my thoughts, prayers, and readings on Facebook as an encouragement to Donna, Mandy, and the family, tagging them each day. Journalling certainly has helped my healing, and, somehow, others like you have found some encouragement in them, too. Many have told me that I need to continue to do it daily, and so I do. I began this b
Og as a way to that.

Through writing, God has brought His love, acceptance, and healing into my life. He has shown me a new facet of His grace that I never knew before. He has filled me with a zeal for others to know His healing and wholeness. I am amazed by Him. To be frank, when I finish writing, I sometimes don’t really remember what I write. I have to look back and re-read it to remember. It’s almost as if I didn’t write it. Hmmm.

The point I’m trying to make is that what started as a commitment to pray and then progressed into a promise to not only pray daily, but also to post daily encouragement has served to draw me closer to God like never before. It is the power of accountabiltiy and commitment. It is the power of faithfulness… not mine, but God’s. He is so faithful.

I encourage you to be accountable to someone or to hold someone accountable. We all need it. We have been blessed to be a blessing. And the blessings from our faithful Father are immense.

Come near to God and he will come near to you. (James 4:8a)

Thanks for being my accountability partners on this journey of life and faith.