Social Media

I could write a novel on this.... Boy could I. I'm kinda going on this from the last blog post...


When you hear that term, what pops into your head first? Facebook? Twitter? Phones? Teenagers?



What comes into mind for me is Facebook and Blogs first. I think about this being a world where people don't talk to each other face to face about life and feelings. They turn to social media in some form or fashion. Sometimes for the better, often for the worse.

I hope you all read this and use this to help someone who you know that might need it. Many people wonder why I am the way I am. I have been told that blogging/sharing will get me this or that bad thing. Yet I see parents out there sharing so much worse than I ever have and they are doing well. Why do I get told to be quiet yet those who share really more then they should are encouraged?


I am taught in Celebrate Recovery to use our stories to help others find healing. And that is what this post is going to be about. I go to Celebrate Recovery for anxiety, anger and co-dependency.


I'm dealing with some emotional healing that I knew I would eventually have to deal with yet dreaded. Mainly stuff in the past but I have daily reminders that I usually just push out of the way or I have other things that have to be dealt with first. I have also been wrestling with myself on where I should be within service in church. If I belong on stage after being there for over ten years as well as some other things..... Part of that comes with the Spiritual Inventory that Celebrate Recovery has us do. This blog is called Rainbow in the Storm for a reason. Not all of my posts will be "light, bright and cheery" nor will they all be "dark, depressing and angry" either. Often they have both. This blog's purpose is in many ways a therapy for me but also through my writing, I have helped others. I know of at least one I kept from suicide due to a past post. Even if all this does is help one but make everyone else ignore me, then so be it. If all this blog does is make people that know me angry and mad at me for "telling too much" yet that post that "told too much" helps someone else find healing then I did what the purpose of this blog is.

This blog has been here for almost two years now. 106 published posts prior to this one. I have had many types of posts. Several about awareness, one about memes and bullying, several on depression and suicide and how to help others, one about how I prayed over a PICU family who just lost their child, and many more. Most of the darker posts I share bits of my past, because sadly much of my life had many dark times to it. It is what it is. Denial or keeping silent just because won't change that. Speaking out will as will knowing that my story helps others. Kids have a heart to trust most anyone. I have a heart that trusts almost nobody because most everyone has burned me. Those who are commanded to love the most, have always loved me the least. It would be nice to be in a world where what people say they did. Where those who promise to be there, pray, love, care or whatever keep that promise. Instead I live in a world where being a hermit brings less pain so therefore I am.

With the rise of social media has also come the floodgates being opened of anyone and everyone being able to post whatever they want under the guise of "just being words online." Many families have been blessed by social media, mine has. My daughter got her wish twice because of social media. We went viral along with BABW because of social media. I have met families I have never seen or only seen once through social media who taught me I was NOT alone in the medical situations we had to face. Even lives can be saved thanks to social media, like this story. The dark side to social media has been sometimes pics stolen to make cruel memes, cyber bullying that has resulted in suicide, people just being rude and hateful just because with no remorse, some people really do share too much and bad things happen. Robberies at times have happened because of someone posting too much info of when they are or are not home on Facebook, etc. There is good and bad to everything. Food is required to survive yet eating too much results into many health issues. Too little water will kill us but so will drinking too much. All good things can become bad in excess.


When we get to the point that our worth is seen in how many likes or comments a post has, we have a serious problem. 




Yet so much good can come also. Many of you do not know my name, nor the names of my children. Some of you do because you know that I write this and a few know why I do. Today all of you will know why by the time I am done. I do not write anonymously just because but I do because it is safer for me to be real that way online.

This blog is my therapy. I have been told to call or text if I need to vent by some people instead of writing. When I tried that approach, at best I was usually ignored or treated like I was a moron for my feelings. At best...... I have been told before that I should just be quiet. I have been told before that I'm going to get CPS called on me for these posts. Yet I have also been thanked for these posts. By a good amount. Some of my posts have been shared a lot. My top viewed post has almost 1000 reads to it. There were several special needs pages on Facebook that have shared more than one of my posts on here. My top 5 viewed posts on here tally up to almost 4,000 reads. I have had many comments (some on the blog itself) of people who loved what I wrote. I have had some who all they saw was bad grammar, (I'm not an English teacher so deal! lol) I have been called a liberal, I have had some who said I shouldn't talk like this or that yet overall most have been glad I shared whatever I did that they read.


Knowing that my blog has helped others will not stop me from writing. Know that. Yet sometimes I get discouraged from wanting to write. Not because I don't have things to say, that's rarely an issue. It is because sometimes I do feel like what I write is meaningless in a world that is so cold and cruel that hate gets one farther than love. The hard thing for us all sometimes is to keep trying to be the light in a world that gets darker by the day.... We can't give up though. We have been encouraged to keep fighting the good fight of faith.

Psychologists often say that there is a curse, that what happens to you, you are destined to do to others. NO! If that was the case, my children would be suffering.... They would have been abused already, they would have been told by many that they were worthless, shouldn't have been born, are a mistake, will never succeed in life, will always be a burden, etc like I was by so many.....

It isn't up to the world to teach and most important to PROVE to my children that the curse can be broken. It is up to me and their dad to prove that. And you know what? We have. So nobody can sit here and say "I am doing this because this is all I know." NO! That may be all you have known but YOU have the power to change. YOU DO!

It's by God's miracle that I'm even here, thriving, living, and yet my kids are happy and doing well. I face struggles to this day that I have to face and conquer daily. We all do! Yet I will never put that burden on my kids.

Yet what saddens me is this world is not what it was when I was a child. I had it "bad" compared to many kids I knew yet at least we knew manners and respect, overall. How I see many kids act today, I would have been eating soap or a belt across my butt for. Yet the suicide rate in this country is really high...... And that breaks my heart. This brings back a lot of memories..... Had not heard this in a while till yesterday. Yet I have no fear sharing my story, even if some wish I would stay silent. I refuse!

In a world where everyone is connected through social media, we are also the most disconnected.

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We go to MOPS (For example) and instead of saying greetings to all the moms, the cliques sit together, talk and all the while their noses are in their phones. I have seen it at schools, church gatherings, and more. Why? I think we are addicted. Social media is a drug. Yet some of us also without social media would have no way of connecting to families who are familiar with where we are, where our journey is, what our journey is. In a world where in the 21st century, those who are looked at as different or disabled are still ostracized. Many are outcasts, despite any way they look at life. That's where social media comes in to be a good thing. That is where those who are truly outcasts in their community can come to make their own. Yet it too has a dark side.... We know these families only by their posts, their words. We do not really know WHO they are, their personality, their stories. Just by the masks they show the world.



We are the most disconnected we have ever been when yet technology is advanced enough that we could be the most connected.

We live in a country where it is still legal to practice Christianity. Yet do we really embrace that? Do we really practice that? Are we quick to listen and slow to speak? (I gotta work on that sometimes too.) There are so many translations of Bibles out there, pretty much any store that sells any books, you can get a Bible. There's many apps for a Bible on your device. How many of us can say we have even 10 verses memorized? 20? Read the entire Bible even once? Yet I bet we all have at least one book that isn't the Bible that we can quote from. Yes, even me..... We have the greatest opportunity to be Christ like in our country yet so often we are not. Christianity according to recent studies is one of the most persecuted religions in the world yet they don't quit sharing despite the risk. What about us here?


We are all so disconnected from so much that we don't know anyone, not even those we say are closest to us. We are so disconnected from reality that I doubt we can name 5 people who we know what their current situation is. I don't mean via Facebook posts know, I mean know face to face know. Have talked to them, even a phone call to know what is going on. 

There is a song called Disconnected by The Goo Goo Dolls. It came out in 1995. Little could they have known that their song would have more meaning now then it did then.

"Disconnected"

Goo Goo Dolls

I don't remember

It doesn't ring a bell

And when you call me everything is swell

I tend to forget about the times we had 

And now it doesn't matter cuz I feel so sad

I've been disconnected 

Someone pulled the plug 

Oh, you're so distant 

Nothing's come along, yeah

We've paid the price and now we're both alone 

And if you call me, you'll find me home 

I've found another, someone to take your place 

Now if you don't mind, please get outta of my face

I've been disconnected 

Someone pulled the plug 

Oh, you're so distant 

Nothin's come along, yeah

Cuz, I've been disconnected 

Someone pulled the plug 

Oh, you're so distant 

Nothing's come along

This is about a break-up but look at the lyrics and put it into today's society.

Which is my goal....... What is yours?

Blessings!
~ Special Momma ~