About a year ago, my wife started really telling me that I wasn’t “present” enough with the family. I was shocked and stumped!
I am home almost every day by 5pm, never miss dinner, rarely schedule meetings in the evenings, and spend most of my free time at home. How in the world could she say I’m not present???
I’m Mr. Present (in my own mind)!
WRONG!
It took a while (as in half a year) to understand that just because I was in the house with the family (or even in the same room) did not mean I was truly present. Being in the house, but on my computer/Blackberry/iPhone/email/Twitter/Facebook/blog is not true presence and now I get it.
Presence is all about being engaged and not just being in the room. Presence is playing with the kids. Presence is a conversation free of distractions. Presence is active and not passive.
2 Questions – one personal & one spiritual…
1. Are you present at home with your family or are you just in the room?
2. During church services are you present with God or are you just in the room?
