I accompanied my husband to preside at a wedding for a military chaplain in North Carolina shortly after I started blogging. The groom is an Anglican; the bride’s father, a Church of God minister. It was our first time to participate in a wedding performed by a priest in vestments standing next to a pastor wearing a suit. But that wasn’t the most unusual thing about the wedding for me.

It was the email I received later from the wedding planner:

“Who would have thought that in our brief meeting at a late August wedding that my life would be changed by your words?  I eagerly look forward to your blog, as a parched flower soaks up rain.  The depth and transparency of your blog makes me ask questions I didn’t know were in me.”

I didn’t know she was reading. We’d only met for a few brief moments over the placement of wedding flowers and attendants.

Her email, it was the first of many supernatural ways God began to draw me to people through blogging and social networking. A residual gift of writing I didn’t expect.

A few weeks ago, someone I don’t know *liked* my writer page on Facebook. I noticed we had one friend in common who isn’t a blogger. So I messaged her with a note of thanks for the follow. She responded by saying that she found my blog through the ticker feed on Facebook, when she saw our mutual friend *like* something I’d posted on my Writer page.

I’ve asked people to link their stories here on the theme of Letting Go on Friday in the comments each week throughout the 31 Days series. She encouraged her blogging partner to share her story. And this is what happened:

“When she wrote a post on our blog last night on letting go, I encouraged her to share it in your comments today. You having shared it the way you have on Facebook today, not only saw us have a spike on our blog stats but you have provided encouragement to my best friend who has had one of the hardest weeks she has been through in a long time.”

She went on to say how she was letting go of something she had not fully recognized until following the series.

I’ve experienced a few weeks of excessive “God-incidences.” Coming home from prayer walks to read comments on stories that were almost verbatim to the words I heard God speak to my heart moments before. Friends leaving comments on Facebook using particular word phrases of encouragement, identical to  emails and messages from people who don’t know each other.

Some people equate being the church as a mid-week potluck and sermon, gathering in a home to watch a video and talk about it, or making sandwiches for a homeless shelter. But I’m wondering if meeting in the living rooms and altars of our words on social networking isn’t exactly what being missional looks like in the 21st century.

What do you think?

God used a few posts around the web to speak to me on the theme of letting go and settling into who I am. I hope they speak to you too:

Letting Go vs. Holding On: Are You Packing Too Light? by Allison Vesterfelt at Prodigal Magazine

Timeline by Tara Pohlkotte at Pohlkotte Press

You Can Get Past Your Fear by Holley Gerth

Stop Waiting for God to Tell You What to Do With Your Life by Justin Zoradi at Storyline

This is #26 in the series 31 Days of Letting Go. You can read the collective here. If you are a writer, I invite you to link up any post you’ve written on the theme of letting go today in the comments. Subscribe to receive the series in your inbox or feed by adding your address in the side bar under Follow Redemptions Beauty.