Pinterest Fail

What does your “Mama Time” look like? Do you scroll Facebook looking at others' recent vacation photos or admire celebrity lives through Instagram? What about sifting through Pinterest for your next home project or for meal ideas for a picky toddler? I'm guilty of all three.

It’s mindless entertainment when I want to shut down. However, it isn’t mindless; it actually makes my wheels turn more.

In the midst of scrolling for "How to” pallet projects and checking out the pictures from a friend's latest adventure with her kids, I feel my confidence whither.

I’ve come across parenting tips for discipline and posts making me question my parenting methods. My most recent attempts to Facebook scroll and Pinterest surf made me put my phone down and resign myself to  feeling  completely inadequate.

While I appreciate keeping up with friends and the resources Pinterest offers, I agonize with feeling less creative, less organized, and less worthy than those moms who SEEM to have it all together.

In those moments, I bow my head and pray for God to heal my heart for every time I've felt like one big “Pinterest Fail” or the least "liked" person on Instagram or  Facebook.

He comforts me; He knows the difficulty of living up to the worldly standards set by social media. Here is the truth: credentials of perfect baker, parent, wife, and Christian are completely unattainable. Why? Because it's not reality.

We so easily judge a person’s life by squares on a phone or computer screen. Today, I posted a picture from a lunch date with my son. My hair was clean and down instead of sporting its usual messy bun. I was not wearing sweat pants. We looked happy, relaxed, and were wearing little food (big feat for lunch with a toddler).

A friend messaged me saying, "How did you have time to curl your hair? I've barely had time to shower. How do you have it all together?”

What she didn't see was more accurate. I ran to get ready like a crazy person while my son watched Mickey Mouse. She also didn't see us ten minutes later in the shoe store, as I picked up an entire row of shoes my little boy slung off with the clothes hanger maneuver!

I often think of the prodigal son when considering comparison. The faithful brother is angered by watching his brother walk up to feast and fortune and love years after squandering his inheritance in disreputable ways and turning his back on their family. The brother angrily confronts his father asking  why the prodigal son is  favored despite his behavior. Just like the complaining brother, we don't know what God’s doing in the hearts and homes of others who seem to have it all.

As for the pins, photos, and posts of friends who seem to keep everything together (who always look like a million bucks, never sport the messy bun, never look exhausted, and whose snacks never look like random balls of goo)...

There's more going on in their homes than a Facebook post, pin on Pinterest, or Instagram photo will reveal. They need God's compassion and reminders of His love, too.

We all do.

God’s view of our worth far outweighs any pin or photo we could find elsewhere.

Word of the Day:

“Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else.” (Galatians 6:4)

Prayer:

God, when we feel the need to compare ourselves based on what we see on social media, help us remember it's not the whole picture. When we question our worth as a person, parent, or spouse, help us open our hearts and ask YOU to show us the truth. Father, guard our hearts from comparison and love on us when we feel less than what You created us to be. Amen

Author:  Candace Koon

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