I attended a wedding yesterday that was the sweetest, most faith filled wedding I’d been to in a while. It moved me to tears so many times! (Maybe hormonal empty nest mothers shouldn’t attend weddings.)
I almost didn’t attend. We have just began to know this couple and I felt like my husband knew them better than me but as luck would have it, he had to work. I sent in our RSVP with the thought, “I can go myself, no big deal.” As this week crept by I began to feel like it WAS a big deal. A very big deal.
I can’t go by myself, what if I don’t know anyone? What if no one else from church is there? I barely know these people! What was I thinking?! I can’t go by myself! What about the reception? Do I go sit with people I don’t know? Sit at a table by myself and let them come to me? And on and on it went.
I reached out to a couple of friends that I thought might be going but for various reasons they weren’t. I told myself to be brave. I told myself this would be a growing experience. I told myself I would be so proud of myself after. Yesterday I had an epiphany – treat it like a library conference. I go to library conferences all the time by myself and I don’t worry about it. I know I’ll meet new people and it’ll be fun. Why was this any different? (Sooo many reasons!)
So I went. And with great relief I saw one of my friends and her husband there. There were other people from church there. We crowded 8 people around a table so we could all sit together at the reception. I got to know some young couples from our church that I really didn’t know that well. I had the BEST time. When the dancing started I was tired and didn’t feel guilty for leaving. I said my good-byes and headed home. I was so glad I went.
Diffusing Hope 