Paying Attention

As I've thought about the Christmas song that I posted below, a scene from my trip home at Thanksgiving has been replaying in my mind.

After I boarded the train, I noticed a father and daughter sitting in one row ahead of me on the opposite side of the train. I smiled as the father drew a picture for his daughter as his daughter coached him on what to add to the picture. A text message on the father's phone interrupted the scene unfolding on the drawing pad. He quickly typed a text message back. And then another. And then another.

At some point, he resumed drawing the scene that his daughter had requested, but not before his daugher asked, "Daddy, when are we going on a vacation?"

He replied, "We are on vacation. I'm off from work."

The response did not satisfy her. But she left her father alone with his phone.

This little girl has grown up in an age of electronics and probably doesn't crave the type of undivided attention that we, who grew up without parents with cell phones, know. Or does she?

I toyed with that question: whether we are all wired with a desire to have the undivided attention of a loved one. At our core, I think we do, and I think that people will fail to fulfill that desire over and over again throughout our lives.

But there is One who awaits to give us that undivided attention around the clock. We may not always feel seen, but He sees us. And my prayer is that we will turn to Him to meet our desires, not just during the holidays, but every day.