Are You for REAL?

Yesterday I spoke for a delightful group of ladies at a MOPS meeting in Kalamazoo. (And as I was driving to the meeting, I realized it was on yesterday's date fifteen years ago that I graduated from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. It was amazing to reflect on how much has happened in those fifteen years!)
There is one comment a mom made during our discussion time which has stuck with me, and I want to talk about it here today. We were talking about being real with one another - admitting our failures and short-comings as mothers - and this woman said she has had a very hard time being open in this way. She needs the support of other moms who are experiencing similar trials, but she doesn't feel she can be real with the women she knows. This mom said she is part of an online Christian moms' group and she gets great support and advice from these women. She is free to "be real" with them because of the anonymity that goes with these online groups. She feels safe to admit her struggles because she doesn't really know, and will likely never meet, these women.
I think these online groups can be great, and I know many women find support, comfort, and good advice from the women who participate. Yes, there is some value in the "safety" of anonymity. But it got me to thinking...

It may be easy to be real online, but how are we doing offline???

How are we doing in real life???

Are you being real IRL?

And it isn't just the online forums. Blogging is another easy and "safe" way to be real. We can say anything we want to here. We can make each other laugh, cry, think and wonder. We can share our hearts honestly and openly and our blogging buddies can be blessed as we write.
Oh, how I love you, my blogging friends. Truly, I do. I consider you my friends though we have never met. (And I have a secret desire to speak for a moms' group in each of your towns so we can meet.) I pray for you and think of you. I am so thankful to God for the relationships we are able to form in the blogosphere.

But the body of Christ doesn't exist only online. We rub shoulders with physical people every day - at church, at home, in the neighborhood. And I wonder, are we being real with the real people around us? Are we opening our hearts and mouths to bless them, to encourage them, to motivate them, as readily as we do online?

It's something to think about.

And now I'm off to run a few errands before I go to my son's school. He's "V.I.P." this week and today my hubby and I get to be interviewed by his class and I'm staying to have lunch with him in the cafeteria. His teacher says it will be real loud, but I am looking forward to spending some real special time with my real son.

Have a blessed day!