#shereadstruth

So, generally speaking, I’m different than most people. I think about things differently, I handle things differently, I’m just kind of a weirdo. Sometimes this is because I’m just weird, sometimes it’s because I’m probably just more sinful than a lot of other people. (Most people, even.)

A little over a month ago, a whirlwind came through Twitter and I watched as hundreds of women joined together to do a massive “group devotion” together. What started as 2, and then 4 girls, turned into HUNDREDS of people who were following the same devotional plan, posting pictures of their notes, tweeting, emailing, facebooking and sharing this journey. This is great, right?

Sure. Unless you’re me, because I have to first be all cynical and sarcastic and negative about it first. So, I watched and I  got annoyed and I got uncomfortable. And I thought, “Look at all these girls, posting all these pictures of their perfectly manicured nails and pretty journals and pretty backyards and pretty pools and pretty decks. Look at them bragging about how good of Christians they are and how pretty they can make their notes.” And I thought, “I’m certainly not doing that. That’s just a bunch of girls wanting to jump on the latest bandwagon and be “cool” like all the big time bloggers, and I’m not falling into that trap.” (In addition to being cynical, sarcastic, and negative, I’m also judgey. Do you want to be my friend yet?)

So, I was better than #shereadstruth. But, I wasn’t actually doing devotions or getting into the word. I told myself I was going to do it, on my own, and of course I was going to do it better because I wasn’t going to be all caught up in appearances like all these other girls. I had another friend who shared similar concerns and feelings, so we decided we’d do something together. us:1, #shereadstruth: 0. There were only a few problems.

Problem 1: One of the founders of #shereadstruth is someone that I love, and ISN’T conceited, and ISN’T fake, and isn’t all the things I was wanting to think about all the participants. I had to deal with the fact that maybe, just maybe, it was possible that all of these girls were genuine–because if she is, why can’t they all be? Maybe they don’t set up perfect pictures before they post their notes on insta.gram, maybe they just *actually* have nice handwriting. Maybe the reason I think all of them care so much about what everyone else thinks is because I care so much about what everyone thinks.

Problem 2: God likes to work in ways we don’t expect.

Problem 3: It actually looked cool. The community they were building, the growth they were experiencing…it all started to look a little intriguing. But, I’m also stubborn (seriously? How do I have any friends, and more importantly, how did I get someone to marry me???) so once I committed to not liking it, I couldn’t possibly admit I was wrong. That would just be silly.

Then I was chatting with my friend one day, and we were discussing the growth of the #shereadstruth website, and as we were talking, we realized that God was doing something in both of our hearts–that he was making us wonder if maybe THEY weren’t the problem, maybe WE were the problem. And maybe we were missing out on something great He could do in us, simply because we were being stubborn. So we agreed to start the same plan as they were–Soul Detox. 35 days of figuring out what are the toxins in our lives and in our hearts–what they are, how they play out in our lives, why they are so hard to get rid of, how to get rid of them. Being that I’m negative, and stubborn, and selfish, and judgey, you probably already realize that this is right up my sinful little ally. And it was. God started working in my heart, and still is. I’m only halfway through the plan, and I never tweeted anything about it or wrote on the site, though I have faithfully read it, because I was too prideful to do it.

But, let me just say…I was wrong. And it. is. awesome. I really am thankful for this. I am thankful that God chose to work in me in a way I didn’t want him to, but that I needed him to. I am thankful for a community of women rising up together, committing to make a change. I am thankful for the motivation to make spending time with Him a priority. He is moving in this. He is. I have seen it and I have felt it, and tomorrow when they start the new plan, I’m going to be an active part of it. I have to think that there might be others out there who felt similarly or felt weird about jumping in–tomorrow is a super time to start. What a chance we have to take the social media world and use it for good! I am quite certain that if MY heart can be touched by this, anyone’s can.

To find out more, check out http://shereadstruth.com/ or on Twitter, @shereadstruth

This time? We’re doing it together 🙂