I'm a mom of 3 young kids, and many of my Facebook friends have kids as well. It's fun glancing at birthday pictures, kids smiling and having fun at carnivals, hayrides and on vacations. My newsfeed often has pictures of little ones who have made a mess with the parent making a joke in the caption or hashtags.
Kids are awesome. They are beautiful little beings that God created by his own hand. It's a miracle. They are little miracles.
But, here's the thing. Those little miracles are born with a sin nature, and social media rarely captures that sin nature as it truly exists and intertwines with ours as parents.
You don't really see pictures of parents who have gotten to their wits end, locked themselves in the bathroom with headphones in while a toddler and preschooler fight, kick and scream outside the door. If you do, there is usually a joke made about it.
Reality. Reality is that it is no joke. It sucks when you get to that point. It is SOOOOO hard. You want to cry, scream and sleep all at the same time. You give, give and give, and then you just have nothing left anymore, but there's still 5 hours until bedtime. Reality is that if you don't get help, a break or change in the amount of time you have to care for these little beings, you will plummet to a very dark, terrible place. We've made light of it via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Sanpchat, and it's pretty messed up how social media has become such a contrived, unrealistic world we immerse ourselves in.
There's a disconnect. You see posts about postpartum depression, but the link between bringing that baby home and how you got there is skipped over. We joke about the in between stage when someone could really be helped. I'm not just talking about mothers. Dads need help, too. They are often working their butts off to come home to screaming kids, staying up for feedings, changing peed beds and being the monster catcher at night.
This is when parents need intervention. Day after day of no sleep, making meals, cleaning up meals, breaking up fights, cleaning up mess after mess, changing diapers, having little knees and elbows dig into you and literally not being able to say much of anything without whining or arguing wears you dowwwwwn!
We often make a joke about things that are difficult in order to bypass the real frustration and possible pain associated with what's happening. Our self sufficient society is not healthy. We NEED each other. We have become so conditioned to rely on ourselves, that suicide rates and depression just keep getting worse.
God created us to live in community, to uplift, support and pray with one another. Yet, there is so much brokenness that we don't feel comfortable being vulnerable with those that are supposed to be safe. We don't know how to be in deep, connected relationships with other people, and oftentimes when that type of relationship is sought, we freeze out of fear.
There is no quick fix when it comes to relationships. It takes hard, determined work to navigate the pathways that lead to true, honest and deep relationships. In this instant potato society we live in, I just don't think we're really willing most of the time to cut up the potatoes when the fake potatoes will take half the time. Where's the authenticity, though? Where's the real taste? It's not there. We're left feeling empty and unsatisfied.
Our relationships have become contrived and fake. Our kids are learning from a very young age how to pose and what to write that will be accepted by the world. We've created another level of distance from one another being separated by a screen. We can't see the other person. We can't hear the tone of their voice. On top of that, our deficiencies in writing skills make genuine written communication that of a small child.
It seems we are moving further and further away from healthy relationships. Pseudo relationships are formed via the internet, and when we do actually see people face to face, we don't really know how to handle direct confrontation. Yet internet arguments are the norm. The art of healthy communication is dying. Maybe it always has been, and the internet is just a boost in the direction of isolation and pretentiousness that we had already embraced.
Whatever the case, the move toward what is not of God, disconnectedness, is speedily on the rise. I heard a commercial recently describing a new robot. It's one that was stated to express feelings and one that humans could form a "deep relationship" with over time. What?!
What is foreseen is a robot who will not challenge us as humans do. We won't have to learn humility in relationships. We won't have to grow and change for the better. Being placated by a machine that simulates a human further keeps us from knowing others and is a LIE! It essentially keeps us from knowing God as he designed us to live in community with one another through trials, weaknesses, triumphs and pain.
We need Jesus. We need one another. Yet, the undertow is ever increasing toward a world that is ignorantly drowning. Come, Lord Jesus. Come.
Kids are awesome. They are beautiful little beings that God created by his own hand. It's a miracle. They are little miracles.
But, here's the thing. Those little miracles are born with a sin nature, and social media rarely captures that sin nature as it truly exists and intertwines with ours as parents.
You don't really see pictures of parents who have gotten to their wits end, locked themselves in the bathroom with headphones in while a toddler and preschooler fight, kick and scream outside the door. If you do, there is usually a joke made about it.
Reality. Reality is that it is no joke. It sucks when you get to that point. It is SOOOOO hard. You want to cry, scream and sleep all at the same time. You give, give and give, and then you just have nothing left anymore, but there's still 5 hours until bedtime. Reality is that if you don't get help, a break or change in the amount of time you have to care for these little beings, you will plummet to a very dark, terrible place. We've made light of it via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Sanpchat, and it's pretty messed up how social media has become such a contrived, unrealistic world we immerse ourselves in.
There's a disconnect. You see posts about postpartum depression, but the link between bringing that baby home and how you got there is skipped over. We joke about the in between stage when someone could really be helped. I'm not just talking about mothers. Dads need help, too. They are often working their butts off to come home to screaming kids, staying up for feedings, changing peed beds and being the monster catcher at night.
This is when parents need intervention. Day after day of no sleep, making meals, cleaning up meals, breaking up fights, cleaning up mess after mess, changing diapers, having little knees and elbows dig into you and literally not being able to say much of anything without whining or arguing wears you dowwwwwn!
We often make a joke about things that are difficult in order to bypass the real frustration and possible pain associated with what's happening. Our self sufficient society is not healthy. We NEED each other. We have become so conditioned to rely on ourselves, that suicide rates and depression just keep getting worse.
God created us to live in community, to uplift, support and pray with one another. Yet, there is so much brokenness that we don't feel comfortable being vulnerable with those that are supposed to be safe. We don't know how to be in deep, connected relationships with other people, and oftentimes when that type of relationship is sought, we freeze out of fear.
There is no quick fix when it comes to relationships. It takes hard, determined work to navigate the pathways that lead to true, honest and deep relationships. In this instant potato society we live in, I just don't think we're really willing most of the time to cut up the potatoes when the fake potatoes will take half the time. Where's the authenticity, though? Where's the real taste? It's not there. We're left feeling empty and unsatisfied.
Our relationships have become contrived and fake. Our kids are learning from a very young age how to pose and what to write that will be accepted by the world. We've created another level of distance from one another being separated by a screen. We can't see the other person. We can't hear the tone of their voice. On top of that, our deficiencies in writing skills make genuine written communication that of a small child.
It seems we are moving further and further away from healthy relationships. Pseudo relationships are formed via the internet, and when we do actually see people face to face, we don't really know how to handle direct confrontation. Yet internet arguments are the norm. The art of healthy communication is dying. Maybe it always has been, and the internet is just a boost in the direction of isolation and pretentiousness that we had already embraced.
Whatever the case, the move toward what is not of God, disconnectedness, is speedily on the rise. I heard a commercial recently describing a new robot. It's one that was stated to express feelings and one that humans could form a "deep relationship" with over time. What?!
What is foreseen is a robot who will not challenge us as humans do. We won't have to learn humility in relationships. We won't have to grow and change for the better. Being placated by a machine that simulates a human further keeps us from knowing others and is a LIE! It essentially keeps us from knowing God as he designed us to live in community with one another through trials, weaknesses, triumphs and pain.
We need Jesus. We need one another. Yet, the undertow is ever increasing toward a world that is ignorantly drowning. Come, Lord Jesus. Come.
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