{life.according.to.facebook}

do you ever wonder if life is really what it looks like on facebook?

you know what i mean!

you've got those friends who only post the "woe is me" posts 

{they are tired, they are sick, they don't have enough money, their car broke down ...}

or there are those who always post the cryptic posts 

{sure could use prayer today, sometimes people should just mind their own business, so happy i could just burst ...}

 or those who are perpetually happy

{my honey brought me flowers AGAIN today, my kids are just the most amazing, i love my job ...}

hhhmmmm... 

are they really always tired, sick and broke?

are they always mysterious?

is life really always perfect?

no.

no.

no.

at least that's my guess!

my guess is that for most of us ... life falls somewhere in between the "woe is me" and "perpetually happy" most.of.the.time!

i post this because when rick & i shared some friction in our marriage to some friends recently, they responded that everything always looks so perfect when they see our facebook posts ... ugh! 

that's not what i really want to portray ... life isn't perfect, it will never be perfect this side of heaven! however, God does bless, and usually i can find a "silver lining" to my life circumstances, and i usually CHOOSE to share that with the facebook world! when i'm having trouble finding that silver lining, i usually just choose not to share!

daily we have a choice.

moment by moment we have a choice.

we can choose to see the glass as half-empty or we can see it as half-full ...

you choose.

i choose.

i'll be honest, sometimes, i see it as half-empty.

yesterday i saw it as half empty.

i'll be completely transparent here ...

sometimes "memory" days STINK!

valentine's day was mine and rickey's anniversary {would have been 24 this year}.

it's a day filled with bitter-sweet memories.

love that was full and beautiful.  love that continues but in a different sense since i still live here on earth, and rickey now lives in heaven. love that has changed. new love with rick that God has brought to me and blessed me with. 

tangled, tumbled, mixed up emotions.

here's the scenario...

a husband who was dearly loved but now lives in heaven.

+

a new husband who i dearly love who lives here with me on earth.

+

a "hallmark holiday".

+

every other post on facebook showing the flowers and the gifts people gave and got for said "hallmark holiday".

=

expectations.

mine

&

his

=

conflict.

rick thinks the day should be handled one way.

i think it should be handled another way.

we both withdraw.

we both think our way is the right way to deal with the day.

we say things and do things and act in ways that dis-honor, dis-respect and dis-love {i just made that up!} each other without ever meaning to.

ouch.

yes. we are human. there are days when the glass seems half-empty.

days {like yesterday} when we forget what pastor dave preached on yesterday ...

love is patient.

love is kind.

love does not envy.

or boast.

love is not arrogant.

or rude.

love is not irrational.

or resentful.

love does not rejoice at wrongdoing.

love rejoices with truth.

love bears all things.

love believes all things.

loves hopes all things.

love endures all things.

LOVE NEVER ENDS.

thankfully, God is working in us and through us.

thankfully, when we cry out, He is there.

thankfully, He does bring beauty from ashes.

thankfully, He knows the struggles we will face ... even before we face them.

i wish i could always view the glass as not only half-full, but full and overflowing because of the love and grace that God has extended to me. i'm a work in progress though.  i'll still get blind-sided by those "memory" days ... even when i think {ahead of time} that i've got it under control 

...

this time. 

i will still be

impatient.

unkind.

envious.

boastful.

arrogant.

rude.

irrational.

& resentful.

i will forget to look for right & see only wrong.

i will not always be truthful.

i won't always graciously bear all things.

or believe all things.

or hope all things.

or endure all things.

yet ...

LOVE {still} NEVER ENDS.

so on those "half-full" days, I will cling to that promise. and even when I LOVE him, but don't "like" him, I'll cling to that promise.  i'll hold on to that covenant that i made to him before God and our kids, and i'll remember that faith, hope and love remain, but the greatest is LOVE.

so remember ... life "according to facebook" isn't always what it appears!

don't compare your life to someone else's virtual life.

live the life God intends you to live.

cherish the love God has given you {spouse, kids, parents ... whoever}.

live your life, and know that each step of the way is planned by God {Psalm 139}.

and always, always, always

remember to LOVE!

p.s. ... today is a new day. yesterday is over and we have moved forward.  God is good. God is a God of restoration. what seemed half-empty yesterday, seems more than half-full today! with each {memory} day, God grows us. God teaches us. God sustains us. and at the end of those days, God has drawn us closer to each other and Himself.

♥

thanks AGAIN, rick for walking this journey hand-in-hand with me & God & our kids

 & I do LOVE you, even in those moments when it seems like i don't like you! ♥