Life Is Not About Likes

Our Keepsake Journal is Here! 🎉

Your alarm clock goes off, buzzing in your ear. You reach over for your phone before your feet hit the ground. Quick email check shows you that your meeting got moved to lunch. Your notification window reminds you that your son’s PTA meeting is tomorrow evening. After a quick sweep of the business as usual, you quickly click your Facebook to see who else liked the photo you posted of your son batting at his first baseball game last night. A small clinch hits your gut as no one new seemed to like your photo over night. Then you notice Jenny.

Jenny on Facebook looks incredibly fit after having her baby only a few months ago. Then there’s Josh. Josh has over 10,000 followers on his Twitter account and people are retweeting him left and right. Those friends of yours from high school look happily married after all these years. At least that’s what their recent vacation photos look like. You know this because you just “liked” and commented on their album on Facebook. All of these people look like they are happy and they seem like they are pretty awesome. I mean their anniversary vacay album got over 200 likes. So you know what you do? You go back and take a quick look at that vacation album you put up a while back and notice you only got 77 likes. You compare who liked your album to who all liked your friend’s album and before you know it, your five profiles later feeling like crap after you saw who all went to that class reunion without you.

Roosevelt once said that comparison is the thief of joy. Don’t we all know that. In an age when our whole lives can be plastered online for everyone to see and like and approve and comment and congratulate, we are constantly bombarded with the sneaky sense of comparison. I remember reading an article about how someone’s life always looks better on Facebook and no matter how real we try to be online, we’ll never really know the ins and outs of people’s lives through social media. But you know what? I know that. I understand that. And most of the time, I’m pretty good at reminding myself of that truth.

But you know what I struggle with? The likes I receive.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the battle of your mind over how many likes you receive on social media. As a writer, the number of likes or comments you receive can feel paramount to your existence. As a first time mom posting pictures of her sweet little boy’s birthday or the date night you and your hubby finally got, all these life events suddenly become part of an equation that says the more likes you get = the more happy you are.

What really happens when I see that my album got “only” 36 likes? Rejection.

The immediate response was comparison but the result? Pure rejection. The feeling that maybe there were 100 people out there that scrolled past your album and purposefully didn’t like it. The feeling that our worth is somehow measured by the quick click of someone’s finger on their cellphone as they scroll past your photo, when in all reality, they probably never saw the photos to begin with.

Why is it that what seems like a silly little number can completely erase the truth that I have known for as long as I can remember? The truth that says God loved me so much He sent His son to die for me. The truth that says I am a friend of God. You guys, that’s pretty amazing. The Creator of the universe loves me. And He loves you.

Our mind is a battlefield and social media can be a strong contender for devouring our joy. Devouring our self worth. There is no truth that says less likes equals rejection.

Life is not about likes.

Wait. I need to hear this again. Life is not about likes.

I’m tired of always thinking about myself. I want my life to be more than that.

I want my life to be about being in the moment and not thinking about snapping it to post online. I want my life to be about raising my son to know the love of God and to be kind to others.

I want my life to be about loving those closest to me and showing them God’s grace.

I want my life to be about encouraging others in their relationship with God.

The next time I see Jenny’s newest album on Facebook, I will most likely comment on her photo and let her know how great she is, and I will genuinely mean that. But I refuse to be a servant to social media and let it slip into my being to steal my joy. My value isn’t based on the number of likes I get. The thing is, I am a child of God. There are no amount of likes that will ever change that.

So God Made a Mother book by Leslie Means

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A MOTHER available now!

Order Now

Check out our new Keepsake Companion Journal that pairs with our So God Made a Mother book!

Order Now

So God Made a Mother's Story Keepsake Journal

Her View Shop

noads social media

Gloryanna Boge

Gloryanna is a teacher turned SAHM whose identity is found in her relationship with Christ. She is married to her high school sweetheart who insists that dirty clothes can be left on the floor. Gloryanna writes to encourage others in their walk with Christ, no matter what season you're going through. If you want to be encouraged, you can follow her writing at http://www.gloryannaboge.com/. You can also catch snippets of her faith and scribbles on Twitter - https://twitter.com/gloryannaboge Facebook - https://https://www.facebook.com/gloryannabogewriterand Instagram - hhttps://www.instagram.com/gloryannaboge_writer/a>

To The Mother Who Is Overwhelmed

In: Inspiration, Motherhood

Tired woman with coffee sitting at table

I have this one head. It is a normal sized head. It didn’t get bigger because I had children. Just like I didn’t grow an extra arm with the birth of each child. I mean, while that would be nice, it’s just not the case. We keep our one self. And the children we add on each add on to our weight in this life. And the head didn’t grow more heads because we become a wife to someone. Or a boss to someone. We carry the weight of motherhood. The decisions we must make each day—fight the shorts battle...

Keep Reading

To the Mother of My Son’s Future Wife

In: Grown Children, Inspiration, Kids, Marriage, Motherhood, Relationships

marriage, wife, husband, grown children, www.herviewfromhome.com

To the mother of my son’s future wife, I’m in the midst of dirty diapers and temper tantrums, but I do have days where I think about the future and what it will look like for my son. I wonder who he will be, what he will do and probably most of all, who he will love. I wonder about the type of woman he will bring home to meet us one day. I have my own thoughts on the type of person I wish my son would fall in love with, but we all know that the heart wants...

Keep Reading

Trading Fleeting Moments of Fame for Unshakeable Faith

In: Faith, Inspiration, Relationships

The string quartet began playing Pachelbel, as my dad and I took our first steps down the aisle. I began to lose my composure as we proceeded to the altar. Hundreds of guests had their eyes on me as tears streamed down my face. Struggling to look my future in the eyes, I looked to the ground for reprieve. God, everything around me looks perfect, so why doesn’t this feel right? I’m not sure how I got here. The flame once dancing inside of me, has extinguished. Lord, I need you. Dad squeezed my hand gently, “Are you OK sweetie?”...

Keep Reading

Children Don’t Get Easier, We Just Get Stronger

In: Inspiration, Mental Health, Motherhood

“This too shall pass.” As mothers, we cling to these words as we desperately hope to make it past whichever parenting stage currently holds us in its clutches. In the thick of newborn motherhood, through night wakings, constant nursing and finding our place in an unfamiliar world, we long for a future filled with more sleep and less crying. We can’t imagine any child or time being more difficult than right now. Then, a toddler bursts forth, a tornado of energy destroying everything in his wake. We hold our breath as he tests every possible limit and every inch of...

Keep Reading

This North Dakota Homecoming Queen is Capturing Hearts Everywhere

In: Inspiration, Kids, School, Teen

When Paula and Kevin Burckard’s third child was born, she arrived with a little something extra the North Dakota couple never saw coming. Newborn Grace had Down syndrome, and the diagnosis initially left the young parents devastated. “When Grace was born, I thought all my dreams for my daughter had basically been dashed,” Paula said. But it didn’t take long for those fears to subside. As Grace grew, not only did she meet and surpass milestones, her infectious joy, inspirational grit, and deep love of all things Michael Jackson transformed the family—and countless hearts. The Burckhards went on to adopt...

Keep Reading

Dear Kids, When I Forget What It’s Like To Be Little

In: Child, Inspiration, Kids, Motherhood

Hey Mom, Don't Forget—You Were a Kid Once, Too www.herviewfromhome.com

The kids were squealing in the backseat. For the five minutes prior they were begging me to spill the beans on where we were going as I had only told them to get their shoes, get in the car and buckle up. It’s one of the ways I’ve learned to make a simple trip out of the house one that is a mysterious adventure to them. As we took left and right turns away from our house, they were trying to guess where we were going . . . and when we finally pulled up to a brand new playground...

Keep Reading

My Children Deserve To See the Whole Me, Not Just the Mom Me

In: Inspiration, Journal, Motherhood

Before I was a mother, I was a human being. A human being with life experiences, passions, fears, talents, hobbies, goals, friends and aspirations that I cherished and tried to honor. Even though I went through a variety of seasons of life . . . from school-age days, to working adult, to wife . . . those things always stayed with me. I stayed open to evolving, but never let go of who I inherently was. Then came motherhood. And suddenly I found myself abandoning my commitment to remain true to me, and leaving any semblance of myself in the...

Keep Reading

My Mother-in-Law’s Legacy: Simplicity

In: Inspiration, Journal

The memories of my mother-in-law spilled to the forefront of my mind, just as the contents of his jacket pocket fell onto our dresser. It was Proverbs 31, written on hotel stationery, in my neatest block print. Holding the small papers in my hand brought me right back to her graveside, on a hot summer morning, seven years ago. “Her children arise and call her blessed.” (verse 28) As my second daughter gave a mighty kick from the womb, visible to every mourner present that day, I couldn’t help but to allow my mind to wander. Were my values apparent...

Keep Reading

A Car Accident Left My Teenager Paralyzed—and Incredibly Fierce

In: Inspiration, Journal

I drove back from my son’s college concert near midnight. Exhausted, I glanced at my 14-year-old daughter, Beth, asleep in the passenger seat. We were only 10 minutes from home. I thought I could make it until I heard a road sign flatten on concrete. As the car flipped three times across a bare Ohio field, we left behind an ordinary life. I escaped with cuts, bruises, and blood-matted hair. Beth was another story. The car was cut open and a helicopter rushed her to Toledo. A doctor told my husband John that she was paralyzed. When John broke the news...

Keep Reading

Dear Mama, You’re Allowed To Not Be There

In: Inspiration, Motherhood

Friday afternoon was not much crazier than most afternoons. My husband was mowing the lawn, my daughter was hangry and my youngest son was due to be in a talent show in twenty minutes. I stood in the kitchen—where it seemed like I’d been for an hour—trying to motivate my family to eat dinner and get ready to go. “Get dressed, Jude. Make sure you eat something.” “Dean, do you want a slice of pizza before we leave?” I screamed over the lawn mower. “Maeve, are you going to the optional soccer practice or the talent show? You need to...

Keep Reading