If you are friends with me on Facebook you would have seen pictures from a trip I took to New York last weekend with my husband. I posted a picture of me in a new coat I got in Manhattan and one of the sports bar we found to watch the very depressing Packer game. I posted my best pictures because who posts bad pictures? Who would have wanted to see the three inch long cockroach that I found in the bathroom at 12 in the morning (avoid the Hilton East in Midtown Manhattan if your headed to New York anytime soon). Who would have wanted to see pictures of us changing hotels or watching our flight get cancelled… twice. The majority of our lives are mundane, sometimes disappointing or difficult but just like our Facebook pictures, our lives can look pretty attractive from the outside. My faith looks pretty “pretty” from the outside too. We can’t see each other’s doubt, struggles and disappointments with God from the outside. We don’t see each other’s meltdowns or the times we wonder if following Jesus is all it is cracked up to be. Although I’m not suggesting we need to expose all of our cockroaches…I guess what I am saying is we shouldn’t compare life to someone else’s Facebook posts or the perception we may have of their life. It’s rarely accurate. Life is hard. Being a Christ follower is not easy (more than always worth it, but not easy). I’m learning more than ever that life is much more joy filled when my expectations for it are realistic. “Dear God, Thank you that you provide a few good pictures amongst the plethora of not so pretty pictures in our lives. Help me never to presume anyone’s life is as nice as it may seem on the outside and in that realization help me to live a life of gratitude and perseverance. In Your Awesome Name, Amen.”
