It was midday and I already felt like I had run a marathon. A team meeting, setting up for a neighbor’s funeral, a talk with a hurting friend, a misunderstanding with a co-worker, dealing with medical paperwork. Drained emotionally, spiritually, and physically, I shut the door to our little office and plopped down into the chair in front of the laptop. Our internet was hit and miss, but on a good day, I could squeeze a good hour or two out of the little flash drive internet package we had purchased at the kiosk in front of our neighbor’s house. When life was overwhelming, I knew where to go to ease my weary mind, to escape the harsh and downright uncomfortable realities of cross-cultural life. 

You guessed it. Facebook. 

Post after post, I’d scroll through pictures of my friends and acquaintances from the US, eavesdropping on their lives from afar. With every click of the like button, the contentment drained from my veins as I allowed the enemy a foothold. 

Have you been there? I hadn’t left houses and family and country to go sit in my office and scroll Facebook feeds, so why did I find myself tempted to sit in discontentment day after day? When life gets messy, we long to escape, to hide, and social media has become an extension of our lives that is just a click and a Wi-Fi signal away. The temptation is real, and the pull is incredibly strong. 

What if I chose instead to be present and make the most of the opportunities and the circumstances God has given me right now? Fully present, both physically and emotionally, in the hard or the boring, in the challenging or the mundane, in the sad or the joyful, in the conflict or in the calm. Present with the people He has placed me with—friends, coworkers, locals. Present in my life situation—single, married, with small children or grown ones, sick or healthy, with lots of energy or with none. 

It’s not always easy, friends, but our presence is our worship to Him. Your presence matters!!