I don’t know how everyone does it. I mean, I have quite a few Facebook friends and people I follow on Instagram and Twitter. And yet, it seems that they all have it figured out. Especially last weekend. Everyone had bouquets of flowers, perfectly tidy houses, and flaw-free portraits. People were getting new houses, new babies, surprise date nights, and straight A report cards from their children. Maybe last week was just the exception, but now that I think about it, it seems like every week I see pictures and posts without a hair out of place. People whose lives are completely put together.

And sometimes, that stresses me out.

Now I’ll admit, I use a filter or two on Instagram (not that it matters since they’re all of my dog anyway!). And I do post sappy things on Twitter, or maybe sometimes that funny one liner it took me approximately 19 minutes to craft into 140 characters. But honestly, that’s not my real life. And I’d dare to say that’s no one’s real life. No one’s life is always sunshine and rainbows and perfect freezer meals and clothes-free hampers. No one’s real life is a strictly kept workout and diet schedule or a day at the spa/salon. Instead, we all have real days. Real weeks. Real months and years. Real times that aren’t picture-worthy or tweet-worthy or repeat-worthy. They’re just normal, in the grind moments that are sometimes stressful, oftentimes messy, and all the time a part of our real life.

So why do we constantly try to hide those things? Why are we so afraid of imperfection? Why do we create these online personas that make us seem like we’re people who’ve got it all together? I think it’s sad, because we may be missing opportunities to let Christ’s light shine in our lives.

Think about a bad day you’ve had recently. I started a morning off a couple of weeks ago by getting up much earlier than I wanted (which meant not wearing makeup or relatively fashionable clothing) and taking my dog to the vet. At the vet, he proceeded to do his business in the middle of the floor, while I was filling out paperwork, and I only figured it out when I stepped in it as the nurse walked in. Clearly I didn’t live tweet that event.

But here’s the thing: we all have bad days (actual bad days, not just awkward days like I was having). And on those days, we aren’t going to go to our Facebook friends and seek encouragement from the ones who never seem to have those days. In the middle of a crisis, we aren’t turning to the people who seem like they can’t relate to what we’re going through. And if we aren’t going to do that, what do you think our Facebook friends who aren’t Christians are going to do when they are having those moments?

Maybe they’re going through a loss of a spouse or child. Maybe they lost their job. Maybe they struggle with addiction and all they want is a way out. Who do they turn to? I’m sure they want to turn to someone who seems to have a good handle on things, but I doubt they will turn to someone who seems unapproachable or too ‘perfect’ to understand their situation.

So my challenge for all of us is this: take off the social media façade. Don’t project that your life is picture perfect all the time – it makes you completely incomprehensible to us real, full of slip-ups, messy and imperfect humans out here. Instead, show a picture of what it means to be a real Christian. A person whose life isn’t always glamorous. A person whose life is actually filled with heartache and grief and stress. But a person who can get through all of those things with a smile and joy and peace because we serve a mighty, awesome God.

As a side note, though, don’t go to an extreme here. Some people like to keep it way too real – as in, always complaining about every single thing that’s ever happened in life. Don’t forget Philippians 2:14-15, which tells us to keep from complaining so that we can be lights to the world around us. Don’t complain. Instead, praise God in the hard, scary, painful moments, and thank Him when those moments pass.

In all things, let’s be reflectors of His light. Shining real hope to real people who are going through the same real things we are!