Instagram: My Thoughts So Far

I started using Instagram last Fall.  I  wanted to follow a few of my favorite bloggers on Instagram.  I used my handle, "Broodmoma," which is the name I've used for several years to obtain Internet coupons.  I hardly ever checked my Instagram account.  It was something I mostly forgot about.

Then, I began checking my feed more and I started commenting on a couple of other people's Instagram accounts.  I was weirdo-no-profile-stalker "Broodmoma."  At the same time, I was getting increasingly frustrated with my lack of time for blogging.  That, coupled with the fact that my photographer had become a full time cosmetologist, left me even less enthusiastic about blogging. Not only was finding the time to write difficult, but once I had a post written, I often waited days for Grace to have time to take and upload some photos to go with it.

 Soooo, that lead to my light bulb moment--starting a real Instagram account.  I loved Instagram right from the start.  It's like short hand blogging.  So easy and so convenient.  It was great to finally get some of the many pictures I was taking off my phone and into some sort of venue. Instagram is kind of like a mini-journal.

I like the fact that because of Instagram, I'm actually more thankful for the little daily moments of life.  It just takes a few minutes to document a cute pic of one of the kids with a few words for a caption.  Those moments aren't just passing by and then quickly being forgotten.

The thing I don't like about Instagram is the Pavlovian response I have to the orange alerts.  I love to see the likes and comments on my posts.  I find I check my phone more often, which I don't like about myself. That's something I'm working to correct.

My big girls had to alert me to the fact that hashtags help other people find your Instagram.  Since, for the time being, I have a public Instagram account, I have largely dropped hashtags as I don't want complete strangers following me.  Even so, some hashtags have been hard to resist.  I've gotten to be a pro at blocking followers.  I've figured out the ones that are just trying to get more publicity for their own accounts/blogs/products.  Block, block, block.

So far, nearly all of my followers are family.  It's neat that the grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles can see what the kiddies are up to.  Daddy and big sister can check their accounts when they're away for the day and see what they're missing at home.

Dad and I (Grace) were here for this one, just to let ya'll know.

As Grace assures me, "There are no obligations in social media."  But if you'd like to follow me on Instagram, you'll find me there more frequently than you do here.  Instagram is easy to set up on any smart phone (if I can do it, anyone can).  My handle is Broodmoma.  As I mentioned before, you don't have to follow me to see my Instagram account.  You can simply come here to the blog and click on the "Instagram" icon in the upper right hand corner.  Then click on the picture to see the caption and comments, if there are any.

Fear Not

For the first time in months--scratch that--years--our family is not going through or dealing with some sort of crisis.  I'm fully aware that the Lord uses our trials for our good and His glory.  He has proven that to our family time and time again, but for the first time in a very long time, we're not "in the thick of it."

When people ask how we're doing, I say, "Good . . .blah, blah, blah."  It's not that it's untrue.  Life is good.  God is good.  But the past seven months have been a struggle.  I mean STRUGGLE.  

We're studying the Revelation of Jesus Christ to St. John this year in Bible Study Fellowship.  As an aside, I've been very pleased with how deftly BSF has handled the book.  No theological strong-arming.  Just the book as it was recorded, concentrating on victory and The Lamb.

Of course, one can't study Revelation without learning about satan.  The enemy of our souls is alive and well.  He's a deceiver and one of his greatest deceptions is that he is simply not that dangerous.   Satan would like to keep on deceiving, to keep under wraps who he really is and keep us believing that he is not that formidable of an opponent.  So when we learn what he's truly made of and the depth of his evilness, he doesn't like it.  I believe our family has been battling satan this year. 

Many things have happened in these last months which I don't write about on the blog or talk about with friends or even family.  It's just been a battle.  A real one. Spiritually, this has been a very difficult year for us.  Matt and I have discussed it many, many times.  Temptations, fears, doubts, persecution.  We've experienced the gamut, it seems.  Through it all, the Lord has held us close.  He's never once let us slip or fall, even though we felt like we were outnumbered and hanging on by a thread.

One thing I've been battling lately is fear.  I woke up in the middle of the night a few days ago.  I was absolutely petrified.  The current presidential race, coupled with the recent events involving ISIS had me thinking, fearing, about the future.  Specifically our kids' futures.  More specifically, I began to imagine a world war and a military draft in which all five of our boys would be at risk and in harm's way.  I cried and I prayed.  I cuddled up to Matt and eventually fell back to sleep.

Then, in the morning, during my devotional time, I read this passage from Psalm 32:

Therefore let everyone who is godly
    offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;
surely in the rush of great waters,
    they shall not reach him.
7 You are a hiding place for me;
    you preserve me from trouble;
    you surround me with shouts of deliverance.

Just when I think I can't take it anymore, God comes.  He sees.  He knows.  He reminds me of His sovereignty.

We are nearing the end of our study of Revelation.  Sometimes, when you've studied a book of the Bible for many weeks, you forget where you started.  But Sunday at church, I was reminded of the beginning.  One of the readings of the day was from the first chapter of Revelation:

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,  and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,  his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.  In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 

Pastor gave his sermon from this text.  He talked about Jesus and about how He is trustworthy, faithful and true.  He ended his sermon with this quote:  "It's only when Christ is seen for who He really is, that we can see anything else as it really is." 

Christ is The Lamb.  He is victorious.  And He says, "Fear not."