Text Light, Face to Face: 2026

2025 was a hard year for me, health wise. During the forced rest of my recovery from surgery, I realized something surprising. I could follow someone’s entire week through text, yet I couldn’t remember the last time we had actually shared a moment together in person.

 It made me pause. Had we traded real presence for the ease of replying? When did our main connection shift from shared life to a screen?

Lately, I’ve found myself asking, would these friendships and connections survive if my phone didn’t exist for a day? A week? The truth is, a few might fade and that’s okay. There are seasons to everything. While some fade, others grow stronger.

My biggest takeaway from 2025 is simple: convenience isn’t closeness.

God designed us to need each other. He didn’t design us for efficiency. He designed us for community.

Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 says:

"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. Again, if two lie together, they keep warm but how can one keep warm alone?And though one may be overpowered, two will withstand him; a threefold cord is not quickly broken."

Convenience may make connection easy. But it’s actual presence that makes it real.

So this year, I’m choosing physical presence instead of a screen. I’m letting go of easy and quick. I’m choosing held hands and lifted burdens, praying to the Lord together. I’m enjoying laughter that ends in tears, maybe with a snort or two. I’m embracing shared tears in sorrow and rejoicing together in celebration.

This year, the text will, at some point, be read. The phone call eventually returned. The email, likely buried (thanks, school inbox 🤣), will no longer replace real moments together. My focus will be a shared life. 

It’s going to be a good year.

Hello, 2026.

I’m Ashley.