| My pregnant cousin recently asked me what resources I found most helpful during the first year of motherhood. Without a second thought, I sent her a list of Instagram accounts—experts on baby sleep, feeding, play, and speech. These were consistently the most robust, accessible, up-to-date, and affirming resources I’d found. For all the silliness of Instagram (like the recent “Which Disney Are You?” filter) and all the influencer-building sponsorship dollars, there’s also a growing segment of really meaningful, worthwhile, professional content coming out on the social network. Some of the women behind my favorite accounts have shared about how Instagram began as a personal thing or “side hustle” and grew into their full-time job. It has been fun to see the creative ways Christians are making Instagram a place for ministry, taking advantage of the unique platform of an image-focused, interactive space. There’s probably no better example than Morgan Harper Nichols, who creates gorgeous, sharable, inspirational art based on stories messaged to her from followers—every little painting and line inspired by a particular person. Last year, The New York Times featured the rise of Instagram therapists and Instagram poets, and Morgan is actually a little bit of both, plus a visual artist. On our site, we recently profiled Morgan along with painter Ruth Chou Simons as “part of a movement to bring beauty, truth, and encouragement to millions scrolling on their phones.” I’ll agree that there is plenty of shallow “inspirational” content clogging up our feeds these days, vague lines or relentless affirmations prettied up with hand lettering or bright colors. (Christians are not immune. Jen Wilkin has warned for years: “Beware the Instagram Bible, my daughters—those filtered frames festooned with feathered verses, adorned in all manner of loops and tails, bedecked with blossoms, saturated with sunsets, culled and curated just for you.”) Christian women like Morgan and Ruth, though, aren’t just sharing words that sound good and look good. They are aiming to offer true encouragement to their followers. I’m biased, though, because I am a huge fan of their work! I wanted to share one favorite from Morgan. Each month she posts a piece about “how wonderfully you’ve grown since (month) of last year.” The rhythm started a year and a half ago with this poem in July 2018:
How wonderfully you have grown
since July of last year,
over rivers,
over mountains,
through an ocean
of your fears,
learning to believe
over and over again:
no matter the darkness,
Light is still pouring in.
So breathe deep
and step full
into every present moment,
for every millisecond
is a frame of time,
a flash of light on its own.
And though you cannot keep record
of every single one of them,
you have been fully alive in all of them,
and you have belonged in every moment,
you have truly belonged in every moment.
So when time is racing by,
may your memory serve you well
that every moment was a part
of the story you will tell.
through sleepless nights
and wonder-whys,
you have learned to see
on starless nights
that after everything
you made it here
and you might
just be
alright.
For all of us who are still kicking around ideas about resolutions, intentions, and words of the year, know that God is working in us even when we feel like we’re standing still, that he has sustained us into another year, and that he promises to keep being the Light pouring in. Kate |
