Have you ever had a Facebook/Insta kind of day?
They are the ones where everything goes picture perfect- the kids are shockingly tidy, they manicure the lawn before breakfast, they take the dog for a walk without being asked (when you don’t even own a dog) and tuck themselves in before dessert.
They are the days when all your DIY projects come off without a hitch, and under budget.
They are the ones when the dinner you whipped up in between learning a new language and back-to-back power business meetings looks better than the recipe photo.
They deserve captions that are fun and quirky and terribly clever. And perhaps a hashtag or 5.
I’ve been thinking about those kind of days recently. I have a doozy of a Facebook day to tell you about!
We were on a lengthy tour, weary from travel and unfamiliar beds. The town we were staying in for a few days was on a small Island with grocery prices that would astound any normal human outside of the lovely local people. Honestly, I have no idea how anyone affords to eat there.
We had an early morning gig at a school so (jet)lagged ourselves out of bed and I served up meagre little bowls of over priced cereal and told everyone to chew slooooowly. They were about the size of Costco sample cups. Our meal budget for the day was already blown. The school shares their stage with the cafeteria so while we spent a couple of hours setting up PA we inhaled lunch aromas! School lunch that day was heavy on the meat, but spying some plain rice we asked if we could have a few bowls. Nope. It is a government subsidized program, and they were only allowed to serve complete trays, and could not even sell us extras.
Our spirits were buoyed with 2 super fun performances that had the students laughing and singing along even louder than our growling tummies.
After packing up, the plan was to quickly drop our gear off at our evening gig and head back to our place to eat and relax a bit. However, plans are ever changing on tour and the sound man asked if we could please set up and sound check right away. Okie dokie!
Finished, we quickly drove to our home away from home, drooling all the while about the pasta we had planned for dinner. As I stirred the boiling spaghetti I noticed that the bubbles looked a bit odd. Apparently that is how they look when there were a bunch of bugs in the box of pasta! Time was up, and we headed to our evening gig.
Locating a few snacks, we had a fun evening and were ready to call it a night. Walking up the path to our front door we spotted a centipede. A big one. Huge really. And not the cute fuzzy ones. These ones are mean and aggressive and pack a powerful sting. I’ve heard it compared to a gunshot wound but hope to never verify that.
Scream, stomp, whack, stomp, whack stomp. Bedtime!
Before hitting the hay, I quickly updated our social media. Awesome day! Great gigs! Happy kids! Fab photos! Lots of exclamation marks!
And the thing is, I wasn’t lying. I simply chose to look for the good, in the bad. Realistically it was a really hard day. And I’m all about being honest and not glossing over hard stuff. But, we also truly believe that we are on God’s path, trying, trying to obediently follow Him. Will He give us stuff that is more than we can handle? ABSOLUTELY! That is exactly why we need Him! I cried out to Him all throughout the day when we were tired, and grouchy, and hungry, and discouraged. And He answered by showing me my hard working husband who provides for us so well. He showed me my kids who do more than their fair share, and take so much in stride. He gave me a crowd of giggling, clapping kids who learned about Him through our ministry. I think possibly He may have questioned why He created those centipedes though…
Now I find myself on many nights mentally evaluating my day. I want people to know the ‘real’ us, and not be fooled by flashy photos that every day and moment is perfect. Nothing is perfect but Him. If I spend my day living for Him, then even those dragged down in mire moments can be bathed in light. Maybe I’ll try a little harder to have a Facebook/Insta kind of day. I hope you do too, and I’ll be the first to ‘Like” it!