Giving Online Grace
Facebook, says Nicole Starling, can draw us “into the audience of a thousand daily boasts that the modesty of face-to-face etiquette may well have prevented.” And in that way it can steal our joy when we compare our imperfect lives with what seem to be the more perfect lives of others.
Nicole suggests—and her advice applies to other sorts of online relationships (and real life ones, too)—making
a genuine effort to avoid preening and posturing and a deliberate attempt to ask whether the pattern of my updates (the trivial and newsy, the political and spiritual, the quirky and observational…) adds up to something that ‘gives grace’ to those who read them.
We should also remind ourselves where true joy comes from.
[T]he real source of my joy in God and what He’s done for me, rather than drifting back into the bad addictive habit of chaining my happiness to comparisons with the (artificially constructed) cyber-lives of others.
Speaking of Online Grace
I think that’s what this post at Nesting Place gives. Says the Nester:
Throughout the years my standards have changed, I’ve allowed myself to lower my expectations…. I’ve learned not to let other people’s standards of tidiness dictate me feeling guilty for having baskets of clean laundry on the floor.
And there are photos to show us what she means by this.
Keeping house is one area where I do compare myself to others and sometimes feel that I come up short. We live, cook, and do projects in my house. Because my son’s business runs out of my garage but the kitchen and bathroom are in my home, there is a lot of traipsing in and out on some days. Then there are the pets; I have a few of them. And my house is old, so the upkeep is constant and we do it ourselves. That means my house is never perfect. I’m better than I used to be at being okay with it, but I’m not perfect at that, either.
I See Grace Here, Too
Kristie Anyabwile tells us her Grandpa’s story: Sold for a Bag of Flour.
[The] story began in 1916, when my great-grandfather, Job, made a decision for his family that would change my grandfather’s life forever. My grandfather, Bryant, was the middle child in a family of 8, and times were hard, real hard. Difficulties mounted so that Job could no longer provide for his household.
(Via: Noel Piper)