For the past few weeks, I’ve been sharing ‘Real Mom Confessions’ on Instagram and Facebook, posting a picture of something from my very real everyday stories and inviting others to chime in with their very real everyday stories too. A few of mine have been:
- a towering pile of dishes with a toddler peeking around them
- emptying suitcases from a trip taken weeks earlier to refill them with clean laundry
- a pile of papers to sort that was large enough to slide on
- the fact that we used leftover suckers from Halloween for our Valentine’s Day treats
Very, everyday real.
The stories my online friends share on these posts make me laugh right out loud, and I love love love knowing that we’re not alone in whatever mess has made its way to our living rooms during this season of mothering.
There’s camaraderie when you’re living similar seasons, when you can understand with a single glance and say, “me too.”
It takes someone to lift the veil of perfection, going first with their story that says their life is otherwise. You, the ones who makes space, are the brave women, the beautiful everyday warriors, and you may make all the difference to the woman you pass in the hallway at work, the preschool pickup, the church fellowship hall. Her story may say:
- I’m not perfect
- I’m a mess
- My life has more laundry than devotional time
- I think I’m drowning in my not enough
…and you may be the one to throw her a life jacket.
Social media gets a bad rap for its filters, its carefully selected shares, its ability to hide parts of our story. But we get to choose how we use these tools. If we use them well, social media can also break borders, shatter ceilings, and create community because of people who go first.
And that’s the choice. Will we craft perfection, filtering our souls until they’re unreconizable? Will we dare post the picture that shows sheer joy and love, both of our chins and unbrushed hair? Or will we share the joyful broken of our everyday, making space for others to be real too?
When my daughter someday scrolls through my (then ancient) social media archives, I would rather have her see messy everyday love than filtered and fake pretty.
You don’t have to post your pile of dirty dishes or laundry to share real. I mean, you can if you want (and I will be the first to ‘like’ that post!) but if we ask ourselves the following three questions before posting or adding to a conversation, they can can serve as our new filters:
- Does this story/picture/conversation lift up me, or Him?
- Am I sharing this story/picture to make me look good?
- How does this image/post add to my real life legacy?
Let’s lift the veil, sisters, and in doing so acknowledge that we are good enough. Our lives are good enough. Our stories are good enough. YOU are good enough, and I want to see your real.
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