Ever since Melody posted about her facebook addiction and the “cool whip” diet, I’ve had one question going through my mind…what is real?
If you haven’t seen the cool whip diet video (totally worth the 7 minutes and don’t worry…Melody didn’t really eat 20 tubs of Cool Whip) 
, then let me tell you about what we call “Cool Whip” in our lives.
Imagine if all you ever ate was Cool Whip….you could eat it all day along and never feel full or satisfied. And you probably couldn’t do it for even a day…probably not even one meal….before you started feeling sick and your body started craving something substantial. And you’d change things right away….you’d go looking for an apple or a baked potato or a string cheese…SOMETHING else.
So take that analogy and apply it to your life…to your soul….to the things you spend your time and energy on. Some of it’s Cool Whip….stuff we do all day long that doesn’t matter at. all. Yet we keep doing these things….hoping that somehow they’ll fill us up if we have enough of them. The truth is, they never ever will. Just like Cool Whip will never ever satisfy our bodies, soul Cool Whip will keep us feeling empty, unsatisfied and yearning for more.
Thing is…it’s EASY to change! We just have to find the Cool Whip in our lives and replace it for what’s real.
Let me tell you about some Cool Whip in my life…
This is Jackson, my 2 1/2 year old. He is awesome.
This summer, we got rid of his pacifier, and in it’s place we started helping him to go sleep by singing him a couple of songs at night. Most nights it is blissful….just like you would picture a perfect painting of a mother singing to her baby. Other times it is…less than that. On one of those nights I remember thinking, “I should get a cd….then he could listen to songs as long as he wanted…” Here’s what I quickly realized:
Buying a CD of lullabies would be Cool Whip for him and for me…we would be missing out. Singing Songs together every afternoon for nap and every night for bedtime is real.
Face to face with my little boy.
This will matter in 5 years and 10 years and 100 years.
I will remember these tender years. He will too. It only lasts 10 minutes at each bedtime…these are maybe the most important 10 minutes I spend each day.
Here’s another one…
At night, we like to sit together as a family and watch a movie or a show on tv. Most of the time the kids are half-watching and Jeff and I are on our laptops. We’re trying to be better. Last night we were watching a movie (really watching this time, even!), and a big storm started up… a downpour of rain complete with thunder and lightning. Normally we would have just let it pass. Last night we turned off the tv and the 3 of us opened the blinds and watched the storm. It was awesome for so many reasons.
Lesson Learned: Not many things that are REAL come from sitting on the couch in front of a screen….but lots of real things can come from sitting on the couch in front of a window with my guys.
I think we ALL want to live REAL and AUTHENTIC lives….but in our world it’s easy not to. For the first time in history what’s fake is easier to find that what’s real…so help us out. Help us figure out what is REALLY REAL.
Now it’s YOUR turn….
what is REAL to you??
Tell us and Brave Girls everywhere what “Cool Whip” you’re replacing in your life with what’s real in the comments…can’t wait to hear!!
We love you sooo much!!
xoxo
