At the end of the day, I often take a few moments to scroll through Facebook or Instagram. I enjoy catching up on the lives of family members and friends, but I admit that sometimes their lives look better than my own.

Pictures of meals at fine restaurants, home improvement projects or beach vacations tempt me to compare my day to theirs.

Suddenly my joy over remembering to start the dishwasher seems lame.

But I admit, I only post my best. (And, yes, to those who follow me on social media – those really are my best!)

I delete many more pictures of my grandchildren than I’ve ever posted, and I don’t even think about photographing the tantrums.

My daughter Monique walked around during a recent birthday party, snapping pictures.

Someone noticed and called out, “Wait! Warn us before you take a picture!”

“I want candid shots,” Monique said.

“Well, we don’t! We want carefully posed photos.”

Then five of us gathered together, straightened our backs, tilted our head and smiled.

I laughed when I later saw the picture on Facebook. We looked so calm, so relaxed and so happy.

The photograph silenced the background noise of the children. There were no clues that seconds before we were applying ice to hands sore from the monkey bars, wiping up spills and scooping out pastalaya.

Nor was it obvious that throughout the party, like every day since Oct. 29, we were touched by grief over my sister Kay’s death.

Romans 12:15 reminds me to “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”

I thank God for the celebrations, achievements and rewards of hard work pictured on social media.

Then I ask for constant comfort during the times that I – and maybe others, too – choose not to photograph.

Ronny Michel may be reached at rmichel@rtconline.com.