On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God. Psalm 62:7

Over the summer, Mason saved up his birthday money, and even ran a lemonade stand, to buy a virtual reality gaming system (VR). He’s been pestering me to try it ever since.

I am SO not a video game girl. Plus, I feared getting vertigo from having a screen strapped to my face with intense images flashing just inches from my eyes. But motherhood means moving beyond ourselves and being interested in what our kids are interested in, or at least pretending to be. I finally bit the bullet and let him suite me up.

I played a game that had very cartoon-like graphics where I was the clerk in a convenience store. Despite being able to move and react inside the game, I was still very aware that it wasn’t real: I was still just me, in my basement.

Imagine my shock when I tried to physically lean on the counter in the game, and in real life, and almost fell flat on my face on the concrete floor! I knew none of it was real. Yet, I must have bought into the myth on a sub-conscious level, without even realizing it. It was bizarre!

The experience raised a good question: What things do we lean on in life that, over time, seem real, like they could actually support us, only to find ourselves falling flat on our faces? Drugs and alcohol? Social media? Other vices we raise above all else?

More importantly, what are all the subtle things that wiggle their way into our kids’ lives that cause them to change what they lean on? Rather than turning toward the faith we’ve been teaching them for years, do they succumb to the pull of social media and its virtual promise of support and acceptance?

Although I actually did enjoy playing Mason’s VR, I was happy when it was time to take the projector off my face. I felt an incredible sense of relief coming back to reality: a place where I could actually reach out and touch what was real.

It was a great reminder to unplug myself and my kids from technology as often as possible. It’s the only way to discern what is actually right and true, and what is just virtual.

Questions for Reflection:

     * What things do I lean on in life?

     * Can those things really support me in the right ways?