Why I Got Too Many ‘Likes’ on Facebook

An evening this week, I posted a sweet little picture of my man reading a book to our tiny man, with the caption,

“This man. This man comes home from working, hugs us girls, and whisks the boy (whose teeth have made him rather whiny today) away to make him smile and laugh while I finish dinner. He is a wonderful father, not just in the great dad-moments that come with big events and holidays, but in the everyday, in the grind, in the mundane.” the status update got a ridiculous (in my mind) number of ‘likes.’

As the notifications continued to pop up the following day, I couldn’t stop wondering what made this post so appealing to people.  In all the updates, pictures, memes, and political agendas that my friends are scrolling through on Facebook, what made them stop and ‘like’ this status update about my man.

He didn’t perform an act of bravery or earn an incredible award.  I didn’t write the status update in particularly beautiful language. Here’s what I think:  I think we are desperate to see a picture of God’s love for us.  We are so desperate to see real life examples of that love displayed from one human to another.  We are desperate to hear a wife speak well of her man.

And typically when we are desperate for something, it means there isn’t a surplus of it around us.  Mommas, I don’t find an abundant number of women speaking well of their men–it has become normal and trendy to toss your man under the bus, make jokes of his flaws, and commiserate with friends.  Because, after all, men are so different from us–they don’t see the dirty dishes that make your skin crawl, or the towels on the stairs waiting to be carried up.

When I snapped that picture of Mark reading to Beckett, it was because my heart was so full I wanted to save the moment.  But, my heart was full because I’ve trained it to look for the fillers.  You see, instead of snapping that picture, I could have muttered under my breath about how nice it would be to just sit down and snuggle with my baby rather than roasting broccoli, washing dishes from the roasted vegetables simmering in the pot of soup, and setting the table.  I could have sighed when I dashed to the bathroom and noticed that his dry cleaning was still hanging by the fireplace after he had gotten home later than I’d hoped.

I am learning there will always be something to mutter about, but I want to me the kind of wife, the kind of momma, the kind of daughter to the King who finds something heart-filling. And, because I chose to see that picture instead of the dry cleaning, my husband had 9 or 10 different people (who saw my status update) tell him today that he’s a great dad–bonus!

So can I encourage you this week to see the best and take a picture. Your kids and your community are desperate to see you see display God’s love and hear you speak well of your imperfect man.

Mark shared with me some specific ways to speak well and build him up, read them in my post, “The Most Popular Guy in the House.”

 

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