October 19
A Time
to Be Present
"There is a time for everything. There’s a time for everything that is done on earth."
Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIrV)
Melissa’s fingers moved rapidly across her phone screen, scrolling, liking, replying. She sat on the park bench with her friends, but no one was talking. Heads down, eyes locked onto glowing screens, they sat together in silence, each lost in a different digital world.
At dinner, her mom tried to ask about her day. Melissa nodded absentmindedly, forking food into her mouth without looking up. A notification buzzed. She grinned at the screen, fingers flying again. “Melissa,” her dad’s voice cut in, “Can you put that down for five minutes?” She sighed, placing the phone face-down, but her mind still buzzed with the conversations she was missing.
At school, she hid her phone under the desk, her thumbs tapping out messages while the teacher’s voice faded into background noise. She was always connected, always available.
But then came the date.
Melissa had been excited all week—Adam was her dream guy. Tall, confident, effortlessly cool. She picked the perfect outfit, fixed her hair just right, and when she walked into the little café with him, she felt like she was in a scene from a movie.
Then his phone buzzed. He glanced at it. Smirked. His thumbs tapped the screen.
Melissa stirred her iced coffee. “Hey, could you do that later?” she asked, forcing a lighthearted tone.
Adam barely looked up. “Just gotta send this real quick. We all do it.”
Melissa’s stomach sank. The excitement of the date, the butterflies she had felt—it all faded as she watched him, fully absorbed in his phone. She felt invisible. Unimportant.
And then it hit her.
How many times had her mom looked at her that same way? How often had her dad sighed in frustration? Had her friends ever felt like she wasn’t really there?
Her fingers hovered over her own phone, but this time, she didn’t pick it up. Instead, she took a deep breath and looked around. The hum of conversation, the clinking of cups, the way the light reflected off the café window—it was all happening around her, and for the first time in a long time, she saw it.
That night, as she lay in bed, she whispered a prayer.
“God, I don’t want to miss my life. Help me to be present. Help me to see what You’ve placed around me, the people, the moments, the beauty. I don’t want to waste it.”
She put her phone down and, for once, let herself just be still.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for reminding me that there is a time for everything.
I don’t want to waste my life staring at a screen while precious moments pass me by.
Help me to be present—with my family, my friends, and most of all, with You.
Open my eyes to the beauty of the world around me, and give me the wisdom to know when to disconnect so I can truly connect.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
