Reason #979
Here's the thing about Facebook. It seems like everyone is doing it, has that, is this... you get the idea. I hear people say, "Everyone is getting married." Really? Is everyone really getting married? Because I heard the other day that the marriage rate has dropped. Less people are getting married. And for every two couples that get married, one of them gets divorced. No one brags about that.
"Everyone is having a baby." Aren't people always having babies? That's kind of necessary to keep the world turning. I don't think people are having more babies than they always have. In fact, less people might be having babies than typically would since the abortion rate is so high. But I'm pretty certain that a good number of babies are born every second of the day. Lots of people are having babies. Lots of people are not having babies, too, but they aren't talking about it. I bet if the number of people who weren't having babies talked about it as much as those who are having babies talked about it, we'd quickly find ourselves saying, "Everyone is not a having baby."
Everyone is having fun. Everyone is happy. Everyone has lots of friends. Everyone is getting in shape. Everyone has money. Everyone has one of these and two of those. Everyone is saying this and hashtagging that. Everyone is better off, but the real truth is, everyone has a lot of time on their hands. Time to make life appear different than it really is.
Sometimes I wonder what the world would be like without social media. What if Facebook would have stayed with its original intent to be a networking site for college students? What if we looked at Facebook and we realized that people only post the best of the best? No one posts pictures of them sitting in bed on a Friday night eating ice cream in their pajamas watching Boy Meets World reruns. But the one time they actually get dressed up, probably begrudgingly, and go out to dinner with a few people they know, they post a picture. Everyone smiles, although they probably sat at the table the entire time staring at their phones through dinner, and all looks perfect. At least, to the viewer is does.
But life isn't perfect. For every happy baby picture posted on Facebook, there are at least 10 screaming baby pictures that could have been posted. Expecting moms don't mention that they've spent the past 4 months feeling nauseous and exhausted when they post that perfectly posed baby bump picture. The tired mom doesn't tell us that her child just spent an hour throwing a fit in the middle of the grocery store when she posts the mommy-and-me-selfie after she's regained her composure and the kid had a good nap. Every bride looks a dream in her pictures because, well, a professional is taking them. You don't see all the stress and anxiety the bride has gone through for however many months leading up to the wedding. You also don't see the huge knots all over her face thanks to photoshop. All you see are pictures of the finished product of the table decorations she cursed for weeks because Pinterest made them look easier than they really were. That perfect couple, well, they've had their moments, too. They don't hashtag about their silly disagreements, they just hashtag about the occasional dates they go on and their little celebrations along the way. And that girl, the one who always looks like a doll, never lets on to the fact that she only tried on 20 outfits that morning and spent an hour taking about 100 pictures just to get a good one. Don't get me wrong. Life's happy moments should be recorded and remembered for the good times they are. But we have to realize that's exactly what they are. Little moments that come and go, but they were just intentionally captured and shared at the right time in a way that projects a desired image.
I had a great wedding photographer. I mean, the absolute best. She took a few thousand pictures of me between getting engaged and married, and I'll tell you, I only posted the pictures I liked. The ones where my hair was cooperating and my smile looked nice made the cut. Those pictures displayed the things I wanted people to see as well as the way I wanted them to see me. There was a time not so long ago that I refused to take pictures. I had nothing to show but depression and tears, and frankly, no one wanted to see that. No one wanted to hear about it, either. And when I thought everyone else was happy and I was the only person who wasn't, I had to quit caring. I had to stop surrounding myself with that lie. Pictures don't prove happiness. Anyone can smile for 10 seconds. Pictures are simply proof that people existed and things took place, and that's about it. Life is so much more than pictures, and in this social media world, we have to believe that.
Jesus didn't come so we could take happy pictures. I don't really think He is concerned with or fooled by our happy pictures, either. Because at the end of the day, it's not about the pictures. It's not about what everyone else appears to be doing. It's about what He is doing in your life. That is what matters. He has called everyone to different paths, surrounded them with different people, and yours is just as significant. Sure, it might look different, but different doesn't mean bad or worse. After all, if He called us all to do the same thing at the same time, that'd be pretty boring and not nearly as effective or far reaching. So don't worry about what everyone else is doing or appears to be doing. Do what God is asking you to do. Worry about the things He has called you to. At the end of the day, at the end of your life, that will be most satisfying. Those memories will be the best ones. And, if you need to, take a picture along the way. But be real with yourself. Remember that no one's life is picture perfect. The closest we can get for now, in this life, is redeemed.
#979 - For the calling He has placed specifically on my life.
"Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord." - 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
"Everyone is having a baby." Aren't people always having babies? That's kind of necessary to keep the world turning. I don't think people are having more babies than they always have. In fact, less people might be having babies than typically would since the abortion rate is so high. But I'm pretty certain that a good number of babies are born every second of the day. Lots of people are having babies. Lots of people are not having babies, too, but they aren't talking about it. I bet if the number of people who weren't having babies talked about it as much as those who are having babies talked about it, we'd quickly find ourselves saying, "Everyone is not a having baby."
Everyone is having fun. Everyone is happy. Everyone has lots of friends. Everyone is getting in shape. Everyone has money. Everyone has one of these and two of those. Everyone is saying this and hashtagging that. Everyone is better off, but the real truth is, everyone has a lot of time on their hands. Time to make life appear different than it really is.
Sometimes I wonder what the world would be like without social media. What if Facebook would have stayed with its original intent to be a networking site for college students? What if we looked at Facebook and we realized that people only post the best of the best? No one posts pictures of them sitting in bed on a Friday night eating ice cream in their pajamas watching Boy Meets World reruns. But the one time they actually get dressed up, probably begrudgingly, and go out to dinner with a few people they know, they post a picture. Everyone smiles, although they probably sat at the table the entire time staring at their phones through dinner, and all looks perfect. At least, to the viewer is does.
But life isn't perfect. For every happy baby picture posted on Facebook, there are at least 10 screaming baby pictures that could have been posted. Expecting moms don't mention that they've spent the past 4 months feeling nauseous and exhausted when they post that perfectly posed baby bump picture. The tired mom doesn't tell us that her child just spent an hour throwing a fit in the middle of the grocery store when she posts the mommy-and-me-selfie after she's regained her composure and the kid had a good nap. Every bride looks a dream in her pictures because, well, a professional is taking them. You don't see all the stress and anxiety the bride has gone through for however many months leading up to the wedding. You also don't see the huge knots all over her face thanks to photoshop. All you see are pictures of the finished product of the table decorations she cursed for weeks because Pinterest made them look easier than they really were. That perfect couple, well, they've had their moments, too. They don't hashtag about their silly disagreements, they just hashtag about the occasional dates they go on and their little celebrations along the way. And that girl, the one who always looks like a doll, never lets on to the fact that she only tried on 20 outfits that morning and spent an hour taking about 100 pictures just to get a good one. Don't get me wrong. Life's happy moments should be recorded and remembered for the good times they are. But we have to realize that's exactly what they are. Little moments that come and go, but they were just intentionally captured and shared at the right time in a way that projects a desired image.
I had a great wedding photographer. I mean, the absolute best. She took a few thousand pictures of me between getting engaged and married, and I'll tell you, I only posted the pictures I liked. The ones where my hair was cooperating and my smile looked nice made the cut. Those pictures displayed the things I wanted people to see as well as the way I wanted them to see me. There was a time not so long ago that I refused to take pictures. I had nothing to show but depression and tears, and frankly, no one wanted to see that. No one wanted to hear about it, either. And when I thought everyone else was happy and I was the only person who wasn't, I had to quit caring. I had to stop surrounding myself with that lie. Pictures don't prove happiness. Anyone can smile for 10 seconds. Pictures are simply proof that people existed and things took place, and that's about it. Life is so much more than pictures, and in this social media world, we have to believe that.
Jesus didn't come so we could take happy pictures. I don't really think He is concerned with or fooled by our happy pictures, either. Because at the end of the day, it's not about the pictures. It's not about what everyone else appears to be doing. It's about what He is doing in your life. That is what matters. He has called everyone to different paths, surrounded them with different people, and yours is just as significant. Sure, it might look different, but different doesn't mean bad or worse. After all, if He called us all to do the same thing at the same time, that'd be pretty boring and not nearly as effective or far reaching. So don't worry about what everyone else is doing or appears to be doing. Do what God is asking you to do. Worry about the things He has called you to. At the end of the day, at the end of your life, that will be most satisfying. Those memories will be the best ones. And, if you need to, take a picture along the way. But be real with yourself. Remember that no one's life is picture perfect. The closest we can get for now, in this life, is redeemed.
#979 - For the calling He has placed specifically on my life.
"Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord." - 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
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