Being the Real You in a World of Facebook and Pinterest
I think moms need permission to say my life is not pinnable on Pinterest. To say, I don’t make organic fruit snacks and emboss Christmas cards and have a color-coded organizational system for the playroom. My home is clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy. My goal for today is to know my child better, to make sure he feels love and belonging. And if that’s all that happens today, I’m okay with that.
~ Tricia Lott Williford
(That’s me.)
That’s a small excerpt from an eBook I’m about to release. It’s called
Pin This!: Being the Real You in a World of Facebook and Pinterest.
How many of us love creating a shiny, glittery wallpaper world of the girl we wish we were? And when we can’t attain those things, we can at least give ourselves points for liking them, and for recognizing goodness when we see it. If this life stage doesn’t allow us the resources to make a wall hanging from a broken window pane, or to make our own coffee creamers, or to be the envy of the baking moms with our whimsical birthday cupcakes, well then (we tell ourselves) at least someone can imagine that we dream of such things.
If you are a woman and mother trying your best just to keep up with your kids – much less the Joneses – join me live online on Thursday for Let’s Talk Darling, where I will partner with MOPS International to talk real about the struggle to be authentic amidst the glitz and glamour of Pinterest-inspired homemaking and the competitive world of family fables shared on Facebook. In a Pinterest and FB world, where pins are polished and statuses (stati?) are considered the headlines of our lives, we need space to be honest with ourselves — truly honest with ourselves.
I’ve never done a Webinar before, so it’s my first waltz onto this dance floor. I’m probably gonna’ make some mistakes and be everything real on this video chat with you, because it’s how I roll. Critical spirits need not participate. I just want to hang out with the authentic girls who are doing their best to be real.
Pinterest is a lovely place to go and dream, but it has become a place where we define who we would like to become. Facebook is a vibrant, organic community where we can stay in touch with everyone we’ve ever known, but it has become a landmine of comparisons. Like anything else that creates a false sense of reality, these can rob us from joy, contentment, and truth.
I will give women ideas and and thoughts to chase: encouraging facts about themselves in the roles they play as women, wives, moms, daughters, sisters. Truths from Scripture. Discoveries they have found about their children as they have studied and learned about these small people in their homes. It might be the best half-hour of your day.
Together, may we learn to surround ourselves with truth – who God is, who we are, what we know about our children, and what we are doing well.
To participate in this LIVE webinar event on August 13, 2015,
simply visit: https://mops.adobeconnect.com/letstalkdarling.
Log in shortly before Noon (MST) on 8.13.15, and I’ll see you there.
Ava Shank says:
“Together, may we learn to surround ourselves with truth – who God is, who we are, what we know about our children, and what we are doing well.”
Who God is and who I am — those are the two things God has been teaching me in the Facebook hiatus I’ve taken. You can’t fully learn Who God is and what He wants to teach you about yourself until you spend significant time alone with Him. And together both look deep inside you, and then let Him tell you what He wants you to know. It’s a journey rich beyond words for those who choose to do it. Life changing. God has so much He wants to teach us. Give us. “In Christ Alone.”