I grew up with four siblings. I should be really good at this whole "roommate thing", right? I know how the fights start: who borrowed what shirt without asking or who ate who's breakfast bar. I know the words that can be thrown and the tears that can be released. Even better, I know how beautiful roommates can be. The hugs, the commercials that you quote together, and the dinner time conversation that always leaves someone choking on his or her green bean due to the constant laughter. I know these things so well. At least I thought. I was certain that even if I failed every single college class, I would ace the "what it's like to have a roommate" test. Turns out, I was very, very, wrong.

Sara Finney is probably the most grace-filled, loving, genuine sole I have ever met. I am not the jealous type but goodness if I have ever been jealous of someone, it would be her. She radiates Jesus in all that she does and guess what? I live with her. Isn't it funny how the Lord sends us the opposite of who we are in an attempt to correct our negative aspects? Where I am loud, Sara is soft spoken. Where I am confrontational, Sara is gentle. Where I obsess over my dog, Sara cringes at the thought of a dog (we are working on this flaw of hers). Though I thought I would be an expert at living with someone, Sara has shown me otherwise in the best of ways.

I assumed living with someone would be all fun and games. I thought we would laugh at the 2:00 AM movie while gorging onpopcorn and candy. I thought we would sit and gossip over who said what any how they were wrong and we were right. I thought endless things of what "roommate life" would be like. The Lord proved me very wrong. While laughter is definitely shared and movies are certainly watched, roommate life for me has been more about accountability. I have learned how to fall down and allow someone to catch me. And man do I fall a lot. The number of times I have fallen into the grasp of stress and school and a bad grade and the overflow of photos I have yet to edit is uncountable. Or worse, the numerous times that I have been filled with anger and hatred over something someone did to me. Sara is that person to save me. She is the angel living next door to me who wraps me in a hug and says "Cheer up dude, God is still good."

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." James 5:16

The Lord tells us to find that one person (the Meredith Grey to our Christina Yang) who can guide us and pray for us. He tell us to relax into someone else so that the weight of our world is evenly distributed. What better person to do that than your roommate. See, the Lord does not call us to have it all together. He does not damn us for wanting to fall apart (and then actually falling apart after weeks of trying not to). It is so easy to go through life with a blind-eye to our mistakes and fall into a lack of faith. It is natural to hide in darkness and hope that no one can uncover your flaws. But the Lord calls us to be exposed. The Lord calls us to find our person and let them know our whole heart so that accountability can be had. Going through life without accountability is like driving a car blindfolded. You end up making all the wrong turns, hurting a few people and eventually crashing. Accountability is crucial, even more so than the late night movies you and your roommate take part in. I never knew that my roommate my sophomore year of college would be that person to me, but I am so thankful that she is.

To the roommates all over who love on us, encourage us, and slap us around a bit when we are getting out of line, thank you. I fully believe that our hearts are fragile and that allowing someone else to carry it for a bit is more than refreshing. I truly thought I knew what having a roommate would be like. I thought I had the role down pat. I have discovered that the Lord is showing me more and more every day what it means to have a roommate and to be a roommate to someone else. I am discovering what it means to be vulnerable to "our person" so that we can rest in peace of tomorrow. I am learning how to fall and be caught, and then turn around and catch her when needed. Roommates are the accountability partners from God; the "get your act together" straight from heaven. So here's to all of the late night crying sessions, the endless amount of coffee shared, and the hugs that are never quite long enough; here's to our roommates.