The day at the beach was perfection. It was warm but not too hot, and there was no humidity. The ruffle on the umbrella flapped lazily as a gentle sea breeze blew. As I stood waist-high in the crystal clear water, the gulf stretched before me as far as I could see in varying shades of blues, greens and turquoise. God’s handiwork was on display, and it was stunning.
Sailboats, cargo ships and yachts chugged by far on the horizon, and every little while a school of fish swam by. It seriously could not have been any more idyllic, and I felt the tension and exhaustion of the last few weeks drain from my body as I enjoyed the gift of this day that God had given me and my family.
I turned to check on my young grandson who was playing in the water nearby and watched the joy on his face as he dove into the water looking for seashells. As I glanced back towards shore, I noticed the beauty of the white sand beach dotted with colorful umbrellas. The scene looked like a postcard.
And then I spotted something that made me sad. Literally, almost every person on the beach was engrossed in their cell phones. Instead of families talking and enjoying the day together, they were busy checking out somebody else’s life on Facebook or dealing with details from their jobs rather than resting and cherishing their time together.
All that picture-perfect beauty stretched before them, and their children were playing on the sand or in the water…and they were missing the moments that would have turned into sweet memories.
In I Timothy 6:17, God tells us that He gives us “richly all things to enjoy.” I sure don’t want to have my eyes glued to a cell phone screen or to be so busy that it keeps me from enjoying the beauty that God’s placed before me. I don’t want to be so caught up in what others are posting on their social media that I miss my own oh-so-precious (and fleeting!) moments with my family.
Maybe you need a wake-up call today as well. Let’s put the technology away from time to time, because it sure would be a shame to look back someday and realize we missed the most wonderful times of our lives.
