What an Instagram Picture Won’t Tell You

Our oldest turned thirteen a few weeks ago, and we had a handful of his friends over for the night.Before we served his favorite dessert, Andy asked the guys to lay hands on him, while he prayed over him.It was a sweet moment watching the guys giggle through the intimate moment as Andy prayed.I snapped a picture because well…it seemed like a moment I might want to hold onto forever.

I posted it to Instagram later that night, but the whole thing stirred something up in my heart.

I didn’t do it, but I found myself wanting to explain that this picture wasn’t entirely representative of our family.

Of course, if you were to hang out with us for ten minutes, you’d know it,

but most people who read aren’t people who know us.

I started thinking about how many times I’ve looked at someone else’s pictures and assumed everything was perfect.

The problem with pictures on any form of social media

 is that they don’t tell the whole story.

So much is left to be assumed in a picture,

and lets face it, we all assume everyone else’s picture looks a little more perfect than ours.
What I wouldn’t give to show you a picture of a parenting moment that Instagram missed.

I’ll try to paint the picture clear enough for you because it’s one you’ll want to file away for a rainy day.

My dear friend from college, Kate, came to visit from California over the weekend.

She and I were standing in my kitchen with one of my children, and I asked him to do something for me.

Who knows what I asked him to do because what came next has jarred my memory.

He got a big grin on his face {the kind of big grin that I know will most likely cause him some trouble}

and without hesitation or reservation, he said, “Gimme a second, Hussie.”

My eyes got wide, my nostrils flared, my jaws locked, and I’m fairly certain my head started spinning.

I’ve never had an out-of-body-experience, but this had to be as close as I’ll ever get.

 My words were frozen, so I pointed to his room, and he instinctively knew to turn and walk there, just as quickly as his legs would carry him.

I stood in the kitchen and put my face in my hands and began to cry.

I felt Embarrassed. Shocked. Mortified. Did I mention embarrassed?  Oh okay, just making sure.

Who of us ever wants these moments to happen much less be displayed for anyone else to see?

I can tell you…None of us and especially not me.

These kind of moments make you want to retreat and hide out.

Ironically, I write a blog called between you & me,where I attempt to share life authentically,

and God gave me an opportunity to practice it in real time.

The thing about authenticity is that it kind of requires you to share not only the the beauty-filled moments

but also some of the moments that make you want to crawl under a rock.