Worst Christmas Picture Ever

If you've noticed, everyone is flooding social media with amazing, unique Christmas photos.  I look at them, thinking that would be so cute.  However, thinking and executing the perfect photo is not the same.  I had my husband take a quick Christmas photo for the blog.  As you can see, the result was not amazing.  When I looked at the finished product, I couldn't stop laughing.  I had a photo taken with my children also.   In those pictures, we had a progression of eyes closed to grimaced faces.  No, they were not the perfect, amazing Christmas photos you see all over social media, but they were fun and memorable.  They were real.  A word that is not used often anymore is transparency.  Transparent means easy to see or detect. In a society that thrives on filters and facades, transparency has fallen by the wayside.  If people perceive my weaknesses, will they think less of me?  If I don't appear perfect, will I be accepted?  I'm hear to tell you that I am not perfect.  I lose my temper (my husband can account for this).  I can be grumpy (my children can agree to this).  But I can also be empathetic and compassionate.  What you see is what you get.  I've learned through the years that it is impossible to please everyone.  There will always be people that find fault, but that doesn't mean I have to be defined by the fault they find.  If I determine to find my worth in who God says I am, how can I throw His thoughts away simply to agree with someone who doesn't know my motives or what I am thinking?  The answer is I can't.  God's opinion is too valuable to trade for man's opinion.  Once you've determined this, transparency is not a problem.  I can be real because I don't have to please everyone around me.  I have to please God.  My next question is does it please God to step all over my brother or sister because they oppose me?  If I am trying to please God, then my thoughts are on compassion and mercy, not revenge.  After all, He loves them as much as He loves me.  So can I be real with others?  Can I let people see the real me with the mistakes, bad photos, and occasional temper?  Yes, because I know God's love doesn't change for me even when I make mistakes.  I may be hurt by people occasionally when I let them in.  Some may use my mistakes or weaknesses against me.  But that is their lack of mercy and compassion, not God's.  In a nutshell, God created us with infinite care and love.  And that, my friends, is a truly amazing picture!

 Have a great week high-heeled warriors!

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