THE PROBLEM WITH AUTHENTICITY

Top: SheIn c/o here; Jacket: Make Me Chic c/o here; Shorts: H&M here; Shoes: Boohoo here; Bag: Shein, similar here

Before I get into what today’s post is really all about. Let me just tell you that this is the perfect jacket for summer, and I’m in love with this lacy top. Ohhhh, and I can’t get enough of these shoes! So fun and such a good deal.

Ok now on to what I really want to talk about today!

This last Sunday at church, I was really stirred by what the pastor had to say. So much so that I’m taking a little turn from what you normally find in my fashion posts to talk about it. He talked about how people have become so obsessed with being authentic that in a way they are more focused on that than on talking about how God has changed them. They are so eager to be just like everyone else in order to be relatable that they’ve sort of lost sight of what God has done in their lives. And in some cases lost sight of how different their life should look with Jesus in it.

Let me explain. In this day and age where everything we do everyday is posted on Social Media whether that be Instagram, Snapchat, etc, we are always trying to be relatable to people. I have noticed quite often that people gravitate towards accounts that post all about the things going on in their lives that just suck because that makes the person on the other end feel that if they too are experiencing those feelings, that must make them “normal”. Instagram can be deceiving because lots of pretty pictures every day might make you feel like your life is less than perfect. But find an account with pretty pictures but captions about how the day really went when that picture was taken, and all of the sudden, you are being real so people are drawn to you. Carry this over into real life, and we spend our time with our friends recounting how much our lives suck and well at least we’re all in this together.

But I want to challenge that. I want to say that there’s a reason that I don’t have to write captions that tell you how hard life is every day. And you wanna know what, it’s because it’s not.  BUT the reason why it isn’t is not because my life is perfect. No far from it. It is because I serve a God who works all things together for His good, who gives me joy in the midst of trials and who has redeemed every hard situation I’ve been through.

You want real? Let me tell you a few things I could talk about.

I could tell you how living apart from my husband for three months was terrible. How it’s not fair that he picked a job where he doesn’t come home every night, and that all my friends get to go everywhere with their husbands, and I’m often alone.

I could tell you how I struggled with my weight and constantly thinking about food and the way I looked everyday and feeling inadequate and insecure.

I could tell you how I’m bitter that it took longer than I planned to find a husband.

I could tell you how I went through something that left me scared to be alone in my own home and how I couldn’t sleep at night without having bad dreams.

I could go on but I won’t.

BECAUSE GUESS WHAT? That might be what could have happened, but it’s not how everything turned out because my God is bigger than all of those things. I am so incredibly blessed to be married to a man who has a heart for people to serve them and help them and if that means being alone sometimes, I choose to be joyful because I know God brought us together and that we need to support one another in everything we do. I have learned to allow God have control of my mind and my thoughts about myself and to know to the very core of my being that He made me and loves me just the way I am. During the time I was single, I made some of the best memories of my life with a group of girls that I am forever indebted to for making my life so much fun. And God literally delivered me from all of my fears, and every night when I go to sleep, whether Ben is next to me or not, I know that a God who is bigger than every fear I have, real or made up, is watching out for me.

And that my friends is what I want to call authentic. Yes, I want to be relatable. Life is by no means easy. Trust me. I know. But glorifying the things that are hard and dwelling on them and becoming bitter doesn’t make you more real. It just leaves you empty. God wants you to bring those very real emotions and feelings to Him so that he can CHANGE them. And then we can shout from the rooftops that we once were broken but now we are whole. And that kind of authenticity is what will bring hope.

And don’t you think the world could use a little more of that?

All my love!

xoxo,

Christine

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