Finding Faith in the Mess
Life likes to get in the way of our hopes and dreams. It swoops in and derails us pulling us away from what breaths life into our souls and into stress and chaos. What if continuing to live out your dreams, those things that sit …
679. That’s my number. In the Instagram and social media world, that number is minute, miniscule, unworthy of attention. For me, it signifies freedom. When you try to step into the business of a writing ministry, numbers (unfortunately) matter. We don’t want to succumb to, …
If I open my feed and see Momo one more time, I may take a hammer to my device. If you haven’t seen this terrifying puppet thing with a creepy and distorted Snap Chat filter, consider yourself lucky. It’s like a character straight out of a Tim Burton horror movie.
I like to call this the “Momo Epidemic”. A terrifying article about our kids goes viral and we lose our minds. We read with mouths wide open in disbelief wondering how on earth our kids’ world ever got so bad. The moment we process the last period of the article, we call the kids down for a family meeting. No prayer first. No consideration or time to process what we just read. No. We have an immediate knee-jerk response to call the kids down, gather all their devices never to be returned again. Or, we begin to Marie Kondo their tablets and smart phones deleting anything and everything that has the potential to attack our children.
Can I tell you something? Momo is nothing new. Evil and darkness has been a part of this world since day one. When I was a kid, it was Ouija boards and the tail of Bloody Mary. Evil was just as alive and active way back when as it is today. It’s just morphed into a different form.
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
Are articles informative? Absolutely. Should these viral posts be what triggers our parenting? Absolutely not. Articles and viral posts should be an add-on to what we are already doing. It is time we stop looking up from our phones after a creepy face pops up and start parenting from looking up from our Bibles.
It is time we stop looking up from our phones after a creepy face pops up and start parenting from looking up from our Bibles.
Before you stop reading, let me explain. Momo is out there. Momo has always been out there. Evil will take on whatever form necessary. Do not be so consumed by fear. That is not the place God desires us to parent from. We are not unaware of Satan’s schemes. Lest we forget that God has given us protection from the evils and darkness in this world and it is not found on Facebook. It is found in the Book. And, He’s given this to us so that we may give it to our kids.
Don’t be scared. Evil is no surprise to God. Read the Old Testament. There was a whole-heck-of-a-lot of evil way back when. But, here’s the good news: we are victorious in this fight. Victorious.
I know I can do a much better job parenting my boys from the Word rather then Facebook. I can improve on reading more about how God designed me to parent and how my children are designed to receive discipline and guidance from the Bible rather then consuming more articles posted in my feed.
Momo is out there. And if it’s not Momo, it’s something else. Stop running from evil (& let’s stop teaching our children to run) because it will chase you down Start running towards evil, instead, putting on your full armor of God knowing the you AND your children are victorious because you have equipped them with the right weapons to defeat the darkness that tries to infiltrate their lives.
Stop running from evil because it will chase you down. Start running towards evil, instead, knowing you are already victorious in this fight.
I know we, as parents, want to protect our children at all costs. We would do anything to keep them wrapped securely in a safe bubble. Unfortunately, that is not possible. What is possible is the ability to empower our kids with the necessary tools to be able to combat evil when it enters their world; because it will enter their world.
Look, I’m not saying we ignore these things. But, they can’t be our primary source. Let them serve as a reminder of what God has already told us: there is a very real enemy out there and he comes to seek, kill, and destroy us. What better way to do this than through our kids.
Don’t be parent scared. Stop allowing viral posts to prompt you to parent from a place of fear. Instead, parent from the Bible equipping your children with truth. Parenting from this place elicits peace and enables our kids to have the power when evil tries to get in.
I did it wrong. I parented from a reactionary state and didn’t take time to process. I didn’t allow discernment to enter the equation. I just jumped. And because of that, my son has a vision he created in his mind that he can’t shake. Because I didn’t take a second to pray and ask God to guide me in how to maneuver this situation first, I didn’t give my boys the proper tools to combat this evil. Because of this, I allowed fear to enter their lives.
One day, these little boys are going to be grown. They won’t have me or their dad to help them handle the evils of this world. It is our responsibility to train them up (Proverbs 22:6) with power confident in their ability to run towards evil when it arises because they know they are equipped to fight it.
It is no surprise to anyone that parenting is hard stuff. All of us strive to do what’s best hoping for the best. And just when we feel like we are on top of our game, something like this comes along and knocks us down. Momo is a good reminder to us all that evil is out there and very present in our world. Let this reminder not scare us but empower us to fight that much harder against the darkness of our world. The fight begins in the Word. Start there.
Love & Blessings,
Meg
Are you a follower or are you following? Too many of us are looking for public affection to heal us on the inside. We long for likes and follows to fill our cup. Instead, we are left empty and hopeless. It is no wonder half of us feel lonely. We are trying to find our confidence in the wrong place.
Social media. I have a love/hate relationship with you. I love that you keep me connected with people: my family and friends from near and far currently and from the past. I love cheering on friends from the other side of the screen; excited for their victories and praying for their hardships.
And then there are those that deflate me. If I am not careful, I will follow someone just to watch the train wreck. I may even follow just to be in “the know” of their life not really caring about them deeply. Sometimes I follow some just so I don’t miss out on what they may post next. This is totally unhealthy, obviously.
What is in your social media feeds? What are you seeing everyday? What is filling your heart and your mind?
We like to scroll. Scrolling removes us from reality which may seem too hard, daunting, or hurtful in the moment. Scrolling turns our brains off from the busyness of the day. It’s mindless. Or, is it?
We are captivated by what’s in that little screen. It sucks us in and spits us out. The question is, when you get spit out, do you want to be covered in the slime of hate, anger, and anxiety. Or, do you want to walk away from your handy little device encouraged and lifted up? Personally, I choose the latter.
Who you follow on social media matters. If your feed is full of political rhetoric, I can guarantee you are going to feel heavy, worried, and mad most of the time. If you follow people you envy, you are going to feel less then sending you into a spiral of trying to be something you were never meant to be. If you follow people who hurt you or a friend who has moved on, you may feel replaced and betrayed.
SHUT IT DOWN.
I used to feel bad when I’d hit the “unfollow” button. I cared far too deeply about what the other person thought when they noticed I had walked away from our online relationship fully ignoring my mental health. It wasn’t until I stepped back and saw how my social media presence was negatively impacting my daily life that I made the change.
I fill my feed with goodness. My Instagram feed is chalked full of encouraging words, Scripture, and friends I celebrate. Every now and again, someone goes off the trail, but it is so few and far between. My scrolling leads to goodness rather than a messed up psyche.
I think we don’t realize that we have full control over our social media feeds. Actually, I know we do. We allow our feeds to control us rather than us controlling it. We own this little machine not the other way around. It is time we start living that way.
What do you fill your feed with? We spend countless hours in this space. It’s time we start asking ourselves, “Who do I want to be when I set my phone down?” I want to be happy not snappy (see what I did there) when I set my phone down and turn to my kids. I want to be encouraged not anxious when I scroll through my feed. And when I am not feeling that, I want to feel empowered to use the un-follow option.
Don’t allow your feed control your emotional and mental well-being. Fill that thing up with goodness and ultimately, you will feel lighter when you walk away rather than burdened. Fill that feed with things that make you smile and people that challenge you to be a better human. Make your feed nourish your soul. Your world, the space in which you live, will be better for it.
‘”You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.”‘ Exodus 20:4
Love & Blessings,
Meg
