Oh, Pinterest. You’re a smooth talker. “This will be easy,” you say. “Your kids will love it,” you croon as I imagine their proud smiling faces. “You can totally do this, all these other moms have,” you whisper. So, I search, I pin, and I try.
My second grader needed to make a Valentine’s box for his school party. My first instinct was, ugh. I’m not the crafty mom. My plan was to print off pictures from the internet and glue them to his box. Voila! Check it off my list. When I mentioned this genius plan to my son, he was not as enthused, “I kind of want to make something, like paint a box.” This is where my non-crafty, hate big messes, it never looks like the picture part of my brain dramatically screamed, “NO!!!” But, I love my son, so I opened Pinterest. Together, we scrolled. Him commenting on the cool looking ones, me commenting on the availability of necessary materials and difficulty level. We finally settled on a football field box. We scrounged around the house for make-it-work materials, and together we created. Happy with the finished product, I snapped this picture and sent it to my husband feeling Pinterest proud.
Then, I opened social media. I scrolled through my newsfeed gawking at some pretty awesome boxes from some pretty crafty moms. Like the kind that belong on the Pinterest post. My attempt to be “that” mom suddenly looked pathetic.
Then, my son came home from school. “Mom, you should see the awesome box my friend made!” As he shared every detail (I didn’t realize he had a photographic memory), I looked at our popsicle stick, green folder football field. Whoosh…like a balloon slowly deflating, my confidence in our box fell.
Then, I looked at this picture. My heart filled as I thought about sitting at the table next to my son and creating together. I saw us searching for materials, brainstorming how to use them, and problem-solving when the rubber cement stuck in the jar.
I’m not a crafty mom, I am Camden’s mom. If he loves me and the football box we made together, then why do I struggle so much to love the same?
Because Satan exists. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10a). Satan wants to steal our joy, he wants to kill our confidence, and he wants to destroy our value. Guys, it’s not about the valentine’s box. It’s about where we find our joy, confidence, and value. When we look to social media and comparisons, we will deflate. Our “...adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour…” (1 Peter 5:8). Seriously, think about those doubts, comparisons, and demeaning thoughts, they look like a lion on the prowl. Can you see yourself cowering, the fear of being devoured coursing through your body?
But, we don’t have to cower. We can stand. We can face that lion of comparison and reclaim our joy, confidence, and value. We have to stop looking at the lion and look beyond him to see our God who is far more powerful. Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10, emphasis mine). We can live an abundant life of joy, confidence, and value when we stop the comparisons, applaud the talents of those around us, be grateful for our own talents, and stand up when we want to cower. Stand on the truth that you were beautifully and wonderfully made, with talents designed specifically for you. Your Pinterest pride doesn’t determine your worth -- your Creator does.