It’s said that you don’t become a “real adult” until you lose both of your parents. At 55 years of age, I’ve become a real adult, and I’m just beginning to understand the depth of that statement. It doesn’t matter that I’ve lived away from home for 35 years and have been married for 32 of those. It doesn’t matter that I’ve raised two adult children of my own. It doesn’t matter that my husband and I have been responsible for our own finances, health insurance, housing, food and education.
It matters relationally.
The two people who brought me into this world, loved me, cared for me, taught me how to walk, talk and move forward are gone. They are no longer there for a brief conversation, a history lesson, an additional perspective or a nurturing word. Their journey has ended and no one else can replace their constancy in my life, nor the personal investment that has been uniquely theirs to give.
I believe this is one of the reasons why God gave us the church. It’s a highly relational, generational asset to any sojourner who wishes to engage. Through Bible teaching, the church helps us understand our place in history. It provides us with new perspectives and inspires us to move forward. When we step closer and join serving groups and ministry opportunities, it offers us generational relationships and provides nurturing friendships. It’s an extended family, with broader experience that helps us travel every season of life.