Showing Up
By Melissa McGath | September 10, 2026
I come from a very large family—twenty-six first cousins on my dad’s side alone. While talking about a recent family get-together, one of my cousins said something that has stayed with me ever since:
“I get invited because I go.”
We all laughed because we knew exactly what she meant.
When your family is that big, not everyone gets invited to every birthday, cookout, or weekend together. But when someone consistently shows up, they’re naturally one of the first people you think to invite the next time.
My cousin’s response wasn’t intended to be an admonition or advice. It was simply an observation about how connections and relationships grow.
I’ve thought about her words a lot since then in relation to both my personal and professional life.
Community, opportunities, and relationships don’t happen in isolation. They grow because people consistently show up for one another.
As a business leader, I spend a lot of time evaluating where my time should go. Every invitation, every meeting, and every opportunity gets weighed against the commitments already on my calendar.
Most of the time, the tension isn’t choosing between something good and something bad; it’s choosing between two good things. Where should I show up? Recently, I felt God was turning that question back toward me in a very personal and specific way: Where are you not fully showing up?
As I considered the question, I sensed that God was reminding me that one of the most important places He’s asked me to be present isn’t at another meeting or another event. It’s with my husband.
That convicted me. And it made me realize that I believed I’ve been showing up for my husband simply because I’m home.
But while my body can be sitting at the kitchen counter near my family, my mind is often replaying conversations from the day, occupied with solving problems, or thinking ahead to tomorrow.
I’m physically there. But I’m not always present.
Somewhere along the way, I began believing that proximity was the same thing as presence—that if I was physically available, I was giving the people closest to me what they needed.
As I sat with that conviction, my mind kept returning to the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10.
I’ve always understood Martha’s busyness. She wasn’t doing anything wrong; she was serving Jesus and caring for her guests and home. But somewhere in the midst of all she was doing, she grew distracted from the One she was doing it for.
I wonder how often I do the same.
Responsibility can subtly divide my attention. I can become so occupied with carrying what God has entrusted to me that I miss being fully present with the people He has entrusted to me.
Presence asks me to lay down the conversations still running through my mind, the decisions waiting for tomorrow, and the pressure I quietly carry home each day in order to embrace the people before me.
I’m discovering that showing up isn’t simply about attendance. It’s about attention.
In my personal life and in leading the team at Voom Creative.
And I’m beginning to understand that giving my attention may be one of the most meaningful gifts I have to give the people God has entrusted to me.
Ironically, my cousin’s words were never really about invitations. They were about relationships.
Relationships grow where people consistently show up—not just physically, but wholeheartedly. So these days, I’m asking a different question.
Instead of, “Where should I go?”
I’m asking, “Lord, where do You want me to be fully present?”
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If this is something you’ve wrestled with, I put together a simple Presence Audit for Leaders resource that might help. It’s a chance to pause and honestly reflect on where your attention has been going and whether the people closest to you are receiving your best presence.
“But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part,
which shall not be taken away from her.”— Luke 10:42