I’ve been on Twitter for less than a month. I started the account for our blog, hoping to reach other bloggers and get our messages out to a larger audience. Of course, like most of the people that tweet, I was hoping that my tweets would get a lot of interaction and maybe even go viral at some point. But NEVER did I imagine that it would happen like this and because I used the word “praying.”
In between getting our house and family prepared for Hurricane Irma, I sat down to check on the comments received from our latest blog post. It was one comment on our post that had me intrigued… “Stay strong mama! Prayers with you! AND YES PRAYERS!!!! (I saw the nonsense comments on your Twitter). ?” What?! The comments on my Twitter? I have 300 followers and I’m lucky if I get 2 notifications each time I log in daily. There were people actually commenting on one of my tweets? Sweet!
So I log in to Twitter…. and I see this:
99+ notifications?! Wow! That’s impressive. I’ve never seen that before. People actually wanted to read what I had to say? And then I clicked on the notifications and my heart dropped. It was my post about Hurricane Irma.
It had been getting lots of retweets, likes and comments. Thousands of likes and retweets… Earlier that morning, I had seen on the news that the hurricane had weakened a bit and I quickly posted an image and tweeted, “She’s getting weaker. Keep praying! #IrmaHurricane2017 #HurricaneIrma” And people went crazy. Obviously my positivity and hopeful attitude wasn’t as welcomed as it should have been. It turned into a crazy frenzy of people mocking me because I thought prayer was making the hurricane weaker. Calling me, the mother of 3, a “dumb ass”, an “f-ing idiot” and many other colorful terms.
And here I am, sitting next to my 11 year old daughter who was (for a brief second), excited that her prayers were being answered, watching her facial expression turn to confusion. In that instant, my heart broke. Let me make something clear… we are NOT sitting in our home, unprepared, praying the hurricane away. We are prepared as are our local family and friends. Our house is shuttered, we are not in an evacuation zone, we have plenty of food and water and we’ve secured all things outside as well as helped shutter up multiple neighbors homes… AND we are praying. We are not “Jesus fanatics”. In fact, I’m Jewish, my husband is Christian and we are praying because it gives us and our family a sense of hope. So for these ridiculous people who thought that bashing my beliefs on Twitter was going to stop us from staying positive in the path of this massive hurricane, I am sorry to tell you that you haven’t swayed our faith at all. You never will. I will continue to teach my children to follow their faith, their beliefs and ALWAYS stay positive, no matter what. Like I told my daughters, everyone is allowed to believe in what they believe in but no one should ever tell you that your beliefs are wrong because they are yours.
I’m sorry that you are all so angry and negative. For those that sent us positive messages and prayers, I thank you. With hours away before we see any of the effects of Hurricane Irma, we are hopeful that we will not get the worst part of the storm. I will continue to spend my time taking care of my family and making sure they aren’t scared. I will continue to spread messages of positivity because that’s what we all need at a time like this.
If you are in Irma’s path, you will be in our prayers, whether you think they will help you or not. When the storm passes, my husband and I will be the first ones outside, helping a hand to any neighbors in need. We will remain the kind-hearted, positive people we are, regardless of those social media trolls who have nothing better to do than try to bring others down. Stay safe, but most of all, stay positive.
Wow I can’t believe how many people got worked up over this! Obviously, you are smart enough to prepare for the storm. You can do BOTH pray and prepare! Since these strangers on the internet don’t personally know you, they probably took it the wrong way. There was nothing wrong with your positive post. Even though I am not religious at all, I interpreted the word “praying” as giving positive energy and hoping for the best. Sorry that people went bonkers on the Internet! I wouldn’t take any personal offense to it. These people are strangers who don’t know you.
Author
I definitely didn’t take it personally. It just made me sad to see so much negativity when all we were looking for was hope.
This has to be one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen. So they don’t believe in God, or prayer, that doesn’t mean they need to be so mean. I feel sorry for them, and will pray for THEM, along with all those who have been affected by Irma.
I will never understand how people can be so mean! I’m so sorry people have treated you this way. What a sad way to live, I just feel sorry for those people. I will continue to pray for those in the storm’s path including your beautiful family ❤️ Stay safe mama and don’t let this negativity stick, let it roll right off you. Their problem isn’t with you, they’ve got bigger issues ?
Author
Thanks so much Veronica! We are safe. No serious damage to our area. We are just waiting for the power to be restored (hopefully soon).
People are such complete assholes. I don’t pray, personally, so I feel like a hypocrite saying “my prayers are with you” to people, so I say, “sending my best positive energy to you.” Really, what’s the difference? If it makes you feel better and more in control on an uncontrollable situation… people just suck.
Author
Yes! Positive energy is equally as appreciated. That’s all any of us really need.
I happened to run across this post while checking on Irma – I am so sorry that people are so anti anything they don’t understand. #staystrongandpray and hugs to you
Author
Thanks so much!
??????????
#staystrongandpray
Author
Always!
The fact that folks sit around on social media waiting to throw a “RETARD” meme at a blogging mom on Twitter is exactly why I monitor my children’s technology! At what point will they put their devices down and DO LIFE!? I am so sorry you fell victim of their nasty words. Please, remember it is because they’re lost and confused, And someone told them their opinion was paramount to life experiences!
God Bless everyone in Florida, and may they hustle AND pray for survival and recovery!
Texas is thinking of you constantly.
Author
Thank you Dorie! I agree. The negativity and entitled nature of these trolls baffles me. They are wasting their lives trying to make others miserable. It’s sad.