Genuine: adjective
1.
possessing the claimed or attributed character, quality, or origin; not counterfeit; authentic; real:
genuine sympathy; a genuine antique.
2. free from pretense, affectation, or hypocrisy; sincere
a genuine person.
A few years ago there was a wave of bloggers telling readers that we all needed to let it all hang-out for the benefit of being "genuine".
My contention there was that I was raised to be a private person, my business was to be my own, our families' business was to be our own.
The other thing that plagued my thoughts was
Proverbs 12:23 "A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims foolishness.
1 Peter 4:8 "And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins." It just felt like we were all too quick to talk poorly about our children & spouses. I felt gut punched just attempting to read some of those blog posts. I couldn't physically stomach them. Maybe I'm sensitive, but if you know me, you know that's not likely. However it felt like there were mainly two types of Homeschool mom bloggers. The moms who had it all together & were the perfection we all aspired to be or the moms who shared every dark corner of their children's & spouse's lives, even the embarrassing parts that were sensitive topics & maybe shouldn't be shared with complete strangers. Still, one of the biggest issues I find with new Homeschools moms is that they will be following a mom who seems like perfection, trying to follow suit & feeling like a complete & total failure. She sees this mom with disabled children, or many children or (insert special circumstance that makes her a Homeschool hero here) & we all marvel at her wondering how she's so amazing & how we can't manage to get the kids' to actually brush their hair even though they said they did? That's just me? lol We don't have to share every horrid detail of our lives with ppl but flat out lying about who we are is also not an option. I'm not even just referring to the bloggers. We see it on Facebook & Instagram too. Moms who seem like they have it all together but those closer to the lens know fully well most of what she's posting isn't (uhm) reality. I am not trying to be mean or catty, I hate catty. I am saying this because my heart is to encourage mothers & you have no idea how many mothers feel inept when they are doing a fine job, simply because they see "Lizzy the Liar" pretending she's got it all together when she deferentially doesn't. I am not saying she needs to share all her faults & trials, I sure don't. But certainly don't lie about what you are doing. Women, we have to see that when we are competing with this pretend woman, who doesn't exist except in our minds, we have a problem with ourselves & the person we really are. We don't have to devalue other mothers & we don't have to lie about who we are to be liked. People will like us for our genuineness without having to drag out all our dirty laundry to seem "real" or for attention. Be an encourager, be honest, protect your loved ones from judgement of people who don't get the benefit of hearing their side of the story. Could you imagine all your faults being online for all eternity? More so, can you imagine all the women we discourage because we don't like ourselves enough to admit the truth about ourselves? The reality is that if we are making up what our "reality" is then we really don't like ourselves much. There's no need to do that to anyone else because we are too insecure to be honest. Encourage each other with genuineness & you will reap the rewards.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
a genuine person.
A few years ago there was a wave of bloggers telling readers that we all needed to let it all hang-out for the benefit of being "genuine".
My contention there was that I was raised to be a private person, my business was to be my own, our families' business was to be our own.
The other thing that plagued my thoughts was
Proverbs 12:23 "A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaims foolishness.
1 Peter 4:8 "And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins." It just felt like we were all too quick to talk poorly about our children & spouses. I felt gut punched just attempting to read some of those blog posts. I couldn't physically stomach them. Maybe I'm sensitive, but if you know me, you know that's not likely. However it felt like there were mainly two types of Homeschool mom bloggers. The moms who had it all together & were the perfection we all aspired to be or the moms who shared every dark corner of their children's & spouse's lives, even the embarrassing parts that were sensitive topics & maybe shouldn't be shared with complete strangers. Still, one of the biggest issues I find with new Homeschools moms is that they will be following a mom who seems like perfection, trying to follow suit & feeling like a complete & total failure. She sees this mom with disabled children, or many children or (insert special circumstance that makes her a Homeschool hero here) & we all marvel at her wondering how she's so amazing & how we can't manage to get the kids' to actually brush their hair even though they said they did? That's just me? lol We don't have to share every horrid detail of our lives with ppl but flat out lying about who we are is also not an option. I'm not even just referring to the bloggers. We see it on Facebook & Instagram too. Moms who seem like they have it all together but those closer to the lens know fully well most of what she's posting isn't (uhm) reality. I am not trying to be mean or catty, I hate catty. I am saying this because my heart is to encourage mothers & you have no idea how many mothers feel inept when they are doing a fine job, simply because they see "Lizzy the Liar" pretending she's got it all together when she deferentially doesn't. I am not saying she needs to share all her faults & trials, I sure don't. But certainly don't lie about what you are doing. Women, we have to see that when we are competing with this pretend woman, who doesn't exist except in our minds, we have a problem with ourselves & the person we really are. We don't have to devalue other mothers & we don't have to lie about who we are to be liked. People will like us for our genuineness without having to drag out all our dirty laundry to seem "real" or for attention. Be an encourager, be honest, protect your loved ones from judgement of people who don't get the benefit of hearing their side of the story. Could you imagine all your faults being online for all eternity? More so, can you imagine all the women we discourage because we don't like ourselves enough to admit the truth about ourselves? The reality is that if we are making up what our "reality" is then we really don't like ourselves much. There's no need to do that to anyone else because we are too insecure to be honest. Encourage each other with genuineness & you will reap the rewards.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.
