Is every moment of my life worthy of Instagram? Are there moments that are too messy, too hard, too painful to post for the world to see? Has instagram only reinforced the instinctual notion that life is full of goodness and everyone else's lives are actually less messy?
I was struck by this thought on my recent trip to England. I was blessed to find an amazing price on a ticket months ago...so that I could fly across the seas to visit my sweet sister and see our dear friend get married. Check out the beautiful couple!!
What a blessing to take a week off from the demands of work and ministry (well, mostly off as I was still fielding things even from afar) and to enjoy the company of some of the people I love most (i.e. my mother and youngest sister).
Check out some pictures of our trip!
In the midst of these beautiful Instagram moments, though, there were messes. Getting lost without directions while driving on the left side of the road. Cue meltdown by all. Functioning together as a unit when mother and two daughters have not been together in months and navigating the many possible miscommunications of travel. Not to mention the hunger and thirst and tiredness that come with travel and threaten to transform even the loveliest of people into monsters.
But we do not instagram those moments. And I tend to get let down by those moments, feeling like a failure at life and unable to bless well the ones I love most.
And in the middle of that mess of emotion and mental feelings of failure, we rejoiced. We talked. We cried. We laughed. We ate. We walked. And there was true connection.
But IN THE MESS came the true connection.
As we chose to love each other through the mess and in the mess, there was beauty. I am so thankful to have a mother and sister who love and pursue a relationship with Jesus. And I am so very thankful that they each think so differently from me in the natural...they stretch me...they grow me...as I hope I do them.
And while all moments might not be Instagram worthy, I take mental pictures all the time. Sometimes the mascara smudged and running down the face is more beautiful than a thousand smiling in sunlit meadow Instagrams. Because in the imperfections and mistakes...right there in the middle...is the holiness and perfection of Jesus our Savior. In our weakness, He is strong.