#SheReadsTruth

I've recently discovered She Reads Truth, a blog devoted to sharing the truth of God's word with women.  From what I've experienced so far, they have ongoing 'plans', and they use the YouVersion bible app to help do so.  I caught the end of the Fresh Start plan, which was 19 days long and had begun on January 1st.  Since that time is up, a new plan is in place.  This plan, I believe, has already been done before, but they had so much success and positive feedback the first time, they decided to do it again!  It's called the Soul Detox plan.  Today is day three, and so far, I'm loving it!  I can definitely tell why this plan has come back around! 

She Reads Truth can also be found on Instagram and Twitter!  It's very motivating to see all of the dedication and commitment that this community puts forth every day!  It's also great for me, because I can take it with me on the go.  The daily readings aren't super long, although some days are longer than others, and the devotional content (the in-depth analysis) is amazing!  I feel energized and inspired every day!  What could be better than that? 

How about the fact that in using their 'Weekly Truths', they always have an iPhone lockscreen created with the bible verse of that week.  It seems that they don't keep up with it every week though, and I found myself wanting more.  I downloaded and used their lockscreen from Day 6 of the Fresh Start devotional: The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still - Exodus 14:14.  From memory, folks!  It's helped me memorize this verse, as it's a powerful one!  But there are so many others that I want to begin to memorize and really live through.  So, this is where I came to a standstill.  Still, I wanted more.  I browsed around through old Weekly Truths with lockscreens, and saved several for the future.  But I was hungry.  I wanted yet MORE!  Let's face it, how many times do you look at the lockscreen of your phone?  Many, MANY times a day!  Such a great way to memorize Scripture. 

Thus began my hunt for a way to find more scripture-based pictures that I could save and use as my lockscreen.  But I quickly learned that many of the ones that already exist were not quite what I was going for.  I needed something to be simple, yet draw me in at the same time, so that I would really read the words I was looking at.  Again, I saved the few that I actually liked.  I even went as far as to purchase the 'Bible Lock' app (luckily, it was only $.99).  However, I still wasn't fully satisfied.  Which led me to come to the sad realization that I was going to have to figure out how to make my own!  What better way to really get what you want anyway?

So last night, the research began.  I spent HOURS perusing forums, blog posts, and random websites.  As with all research, you have those finds that are real treasures, but you also have the epic failure finds as well.  I sorted through what I had, and decided to give it a go.  Why not? 

Well, maybe because it was going to be much more of a challenge than I had anticipated.  For those of you that don't know me very well, I'm not very creative.  I know what I like and what I don't like, but as far as getting to that point, well, I suck.  This led to a huge portion of time in just playing with the way everything looked, making sure the fonts were the same, the colors matched, the pixel size was just right, and so on and so forth.  Sheesh!  Talk about a major project!  And now, if you don't know me, you're probably thinking that I'm pretty technology-illiterate and have no place attempting what I was.  The latter may be true, but I'm actually pretty good with computers and programs and settings, etc.  I also love photography, but it's the creative aspect that I lack (weird combination, I know).  However, I muddled through figuring it all out, and I was left with a gorgeous depiction of my all-time favorite Scripture!  So far, it had worked.  But then the test was to get it onto my phone and in place as the lockscreen.  One hurdle at a time I suppose. 

I got it to my phone and was very hopeful that all would turn out as I had planned.  Well, two touches of the screen to put it as my lockscreen and .... VOILA!  I had a beautiful reminder of this verse to look at every time I went to my phone.  This may seem to be something small that most of you could do in a matter of minutes, but I felt so accomplished!  I was soooo excited - just ask my husband.  I'm pretty sure he was very 'over' me telling him to look at it and to see what I had done!  I was pretty much on cloud 9, especially after realizing what lies ahead - so many verses and lessons to learn!  The possibilites are endless, and I'm so excited to really get into it!  And not only with learning Scripture .... this is going to help my blog tremendously as well!  Headers, buttons, fonts, tools ... my husband is in for many nights of, "Ooohh, look at this", "Look what I just did", "Another one!", "Babe, come HEREEE".  Oh well, he loves me and always supports me, and this new venture is no different.  He was proud that I accomplished this on my own (well, with the help of the Internet of course...).

And now, the unveiling of my masterpiece! 

This verse is near and dear to my heart.  It was also the center of our wedding day, as we had it printed on the back of our wedding koozies, of which I still have a ton to use not only as a holder for my drink, but also as a reminder of our special day and that God is a major part of not only my life but of our lives together.  I'm pretty stoked about this creation and look forward to making many, many more!  I'm super proud of myself and can't wait to learn more!  This is definitely going to come in handy as I go through the Soul Detox and other plans.  Favorite verses are going to stick out to me, and I'm going to know exactly what to do with them. 

So, thank you She Reads Truth.  Thank you for this new love and passion that has developed in me.  :-)