“The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.” –Steve Furtick

I recently made this quote my Facebook status followed with “FACEBOOK IS NOT REAL LIFE.” Which we know. We do. We all know that because we, to a certain degree, monitor what we put on Facebook. Some people only post the highlights, SOME people only post the lows. CNN had an article called “The 12 Most Annoying Types of Facebookers”. How sad is that? CNN. A legitimate news outlet. Even they are annoyed and realize that social media is not reality. Facebook is BIGGER than we realize and unfortunately perception is reality. But it’s not REALLY reality. I realize I am just as guilty of putting my best foot forward (notice I never post pictures where I look fat), so I have decided to share some pictures and dispel some “lies” about life.

This is my husband and me.

Lie: David & Kristin laugh all the time. They are BEST friends and they love each other SO much. They are perfect. Truth: We do love each other – a lot – but we also fight like cats and dogs. I promise you, it is the bane of our family. We hardly ever agree on anything. And although we laugh as much as we fight, I don’t put those pictures up. Because seriously, who has time to grab the camera when you are picking up your husband’s dirty laundry off the floor AGAIN and throwing it at him?

Lie: Kristin makes gourmet food every night. Kristin is a Stepford wife. Truth: The night after I made this, we ate hot dogs.

Lie: Kristin takes her kids awesome places, and they are going to be President of the United States because she is such a hands-on mom. Truth: I rarely take my kids anywhere, and if I do, I am sure to document it in pictures so my husband can verify we are not really a family of vampires.

Lie: My kids are perfect.

Truth: See next picture.

Yep. That’s peanut butter.

Lie: We are the FUNEST people you will ever know. We are always talking, loving, and supporting each other. We have sleepovers all the time. We are at each others’ houses EVERY day. Truth: Well, I do have amazing friends, but we do not have sleepovers or see each other daily. To get to the place we are at took YEARS of HARD, HARD work . . . of being painfully real, and being selfless and overlooking flaws, and not allowing hurts to fester. I am proud of my friendships, but I am only proud because, like a tree, they took a while to grow and took a long time to mature, and even longer to bloom into what they are today.

Lie: I’m super crafty, and my house is awesome and always clean. Truth: This house was my own personal hell. NO air conditioning, NO dishwasher, and only a kitchenette. And as for my alleged craftiness, check out the stripes. They are all different sizes and shapes . . . I decided after the paint dried that it was intentional.

This is what the girls’ room looks like normally:

Lie: We are rich and awesome and go to Disneyland every year because we LOVE our kids.

Truth: This is Disneyland.

And we are not rich (BAHAHA); we have very generous family.  And we mostly go to Disneyland because my husband and I love it. The kids could really care less. Our son recently told us it was his THIRD favorite place to vacation.

Rachel Nararmore posted a great article on comparison recently and I honestly think it’s a must-read for everyone. Recently a speaker at our church said something about women deleting their Facebook and Pintrest accounts if they caused comparison issues. Deleting Facebook would be an awfully brave thing to do, and I commend the women who have the courage to do it.

All I can say is what was said before. Don’t compare your every day with someone else’s highlight reel.

Be you. The good, bad, and the ugly. I promise people will flock to that before they flock to perfection.