One Saturday morning several weeks ago, I walked into my kitchen after a morning spent outside with the kids.  It was one of the first nice days of spring and we had been playing and pulling weeds and watching the chickens peck around the yard.  On my way to the refrigerator to see what I could fix for lunch, I picked up my phone to scroll quickly through Instagram (love, love, love Instagram.).

The first picture that popped up was of an immaculate kitchen.  It had gorgeous white cabinets and dark wood floors, and a lovely vase of flowers was the only thing topping the spotless granite countertops. Under the picture the woman had written, “A spotless kitchen is the perfect way to start a Saturday!” or something like that.

My shoulders immediately slumped as I clicked off my phone and set it on my kitchen table, not wanting to see any more.  I looked around at my kitchen, a stark contrast to the kitchen I had just viewed. The sink was full of dirty dishes waiting to be loaded into the not-yet-emptied dishwasher, the countertops were still full of  plates and cups and crumbs leftover from breakfast, and the refrigerator was covered in fingerprints and flour smudges. “I haven’t gotten a thing done today,” I thought to myself defeatedly.

Those words to myself were just wrong.  I had done plenty that day: I had cooked breakfast for my family, worked in the yard, and played tag with my children.  Those were important things that needed to be done.

As I began unloading the dishwasher, I vowed to myself to never post a picture of my spotless kitchen on social media.  

…and not just because my kitchen is hardly ever spotless…

There is nothing wrong with spending your Saturday morning cleaning your kitchen.  We have to spend time taking care of the things that we have.  But wouldn’t it be great if we could also get real with each other on social media?  If you have worked for 2 hours cleaning out and organizing your pantry and you just have to snap a pic on Instagram, go for it.  And if it’s 10:00 at night and you have just gotten the kids in bed and the Legos are still strewn all over the living room floor, document that messy floor for us.  Take a picture of your feet propped up on the ottoman with those Legos in the background and proudly say, “I am simply too exhausted to pick these up tonight.  Honey, be careful getting through this land mine of Legos!”

Lets stop covering up our messes for each other, because there is usually a pretty cool story behind each mess.  If we share them, God will use them for his glory.  He will use them to lift other women up.

In honor of my goal for realness on Social Media, I’m starting a new hashtag: #thisrealhouse .  I’m getting ready to post my first pic for it, so make sure you’re following me on Instagram! And please join in: I’m sure we all have some awesome messes just waiting to be photographed!