This Grandma Does Tiktok

This grandma does Tiktok.

Why, you may ask? Aren’t you a little out of your comfort zone? Absolutely!

Let me explain.

I took a deep dive into ministry on TikTok.

I was scared at first.

I felt like I was walking into a sleazy bar. Did I really want to rub shoulders with these people? I heard  stories about ‘Big Brother” watching my every move and warnings from well-meaning Christians that this was a dangerous place. I’m sure church people with good intentions alerted William Booth about the dangers found in London’s slums and Red-Light district before he formed the Salvation Army. He went anyway. Maybe being known as a Jesus-follower on the internet carries a bit of danger, but not compared to opening a storefront in the worst part of town.

My next excuse? I’m so much older than most people on TikTok.

How could I possibly connect? Would anyone be interested in what I have to say? My youngest daughter seemed to think so. “TikTokers love old people,” she said. “They’re a novelty.” Really?

Excuse number three: Now I must learn another new technology.

As if technology wasn’t already changing faster than the speed of light. How could a 70+ year-old grandmother expect to keep up? Maybe I wasn’t born yesterday, but I also wasn’t born in the computer age.

Excuse four: Not my audience.

And then there’s my target market. I’ve spent many years learning to understand my calling and destiny. I feel comfortable with this topic. I’ve been on Facebook for a few years and aimed my message toward middle-aged Christian women who want to embrace their destiny the way I did. This was an audience I could identify with. A new venue meant a new and younger audience.

I took the plunge:

Could I be successful on TikTok? Would my message resonate with them? How long would it take me to figure out the technology? What if critics ridiculed me? Even though I didn’t know how to navigate these waters, I climbed up the high dive ladder, stood on the edge of the board, held my nose, and jumped.

 Well, my daughter was right.

Within three months I had a thousand followers. Ninety-nine percent of comments have been about how people felt encouraged. Young people, like everyone else, want to know the destiny God has planned for them. Most of them feel like they are floundering in water where they can’t touch the bottom, and I can identify with that. They often are insecure in who they are and how God feels about them. Just like the rest of us, they need encouragement, not criticism, hope, not judgment.

So, enough about me. What about you? What’s holding you back from your destiny?

Fear of the unknown?

Fear of failure?

Lack of experience?

Learning something new?

Leaving the security of what you already know?

Next step?

Or maybe you aren’t sure what your next move should be. If you can’t see the end from the beginning, that’s okay. Dorothy set out for the Emerald City when all she could see in front of her was the yellow brick road. Go ahead and take a baby step, even if it turns out to be wrong. God’s got your back. He is with you through triumphs and failures. Believe me, he is cheering you on every step of the way, and so am I!

Go ahead and take the plunge!

P.S. You can visit me on TikTok at @cindynoonan