Find Religion

Yesterday, I drove to my hometown, about an hour and 45 minutes from where I live now, to celebrate my mother’s birthday by going to a mother-daughter banquet with her at our church. This banquet is held every year, and this year’s theme was “tea party,” so of course, there were lots of goodies like scones and chocolates, as well as a covered dish meal. I love doing community things with my church.

Rewind back with me for a minute to the day before. I was talking to a friend of mine, and she’s recently had a bit of an academic failure. Nothing life-threatening, but a little disappointing nonetheless. She’ll be graduating in a few weeks, and she asked be something that was very familiar, since I just graduated college in December: What’s the point.

See, my friend was feeling under-appreciated a bit by some people, and with others, like her family, she kind of felt that they’d be proud of her no matter what…so what’s the point of achievement and goals, other than to have a good time and do what you love to do?

As I sat with my mother and grandmother at the banquet, I thought, this is the point. I was surrounded by women, from the age of under a year old to in her 90s, and all of them were laughing, sharing stories, and enjoying fellowship in God. The “point” in life is, at the end of the day, to look back and be able to thank God for your children or career or friends, because these things made your life joyous.

Sipping tea and coffee, there was a woman who lost those they loved and started to sing again, a woman who was watching her great-great-grandaughter (yes, you read that right, two greats!) play with another little girl, a women who went back to school to get into the ministry after years of following other career paths, a women just starting motherhood, and a women that overcame great obstacles with her health to join us for tea. Some of these women had never left the valley where they were born. Some of these women had never gone to college or even graduated high school. Some of these women chose never to have children, but instead surround themselves with friends.

And at the end of the day, I think all of their lives were filled with joy in life and joy in God. That’s the point.