As a child, you were always able to celebrate. Birthday parties, trophies, awards, certificates, dinners, and reunions were always planned for you, around you or in honor of you. You name it! You’ve celebrated it. But, somehow as you shifted into your late twenties and early thirties, those celebrations came to a screeching halt. Women are now working harder and longer hours, while raising families and even going back to school.  With all of our daily responsibilities, who has the time to even relax, let alone celebrate what we’ve already accomplished? And that’s not good. As women, we’ve come so far. We’ve set goals and have moved mountains—and it’s clearly time for a celebration. At least those were my thoughts when the 1^st Annual Girlfriends Celebration came to mind.

The concept of the celebration started simply as an idea from a dear friend of mine, who shared it with another. Both wanted to celebrate an accomplishment of mine—one big accomplishment as an author. I started to move forward, gratefully, but I wasn’t in complete harmony with the initial plan. Here’s the reason. Over the past year, I’ve watched so many of my girlfriends achieve major feats in life. There was a quick “congratulations” over the phone or on Facebook, but too quickly thereafter those accomplishments were swept under the rug as they all rushed back into the rat race of everyday life. Although unintentional, it’s not the way life was meant to be. With every accomplishment, we are embracing our own true and unique existence—God’s experience.   We are realizing Who We Are with every goal that we accomplish. That is something that deserves a proper celebration.

Our night opened up with an exchange of notes. On each note each participant scribed their name, occupation, and the achievement they were here celebrating. After the notes were shuffled and dispersed to others, we began our night with a moment of what’s good. In what’s good, each guest had to share with the group something great that has happened to them recently (within the last week). This was followed by the reading of the note they selected. At that moment, another woman was introduced.  

Our warm introductions were followed by a photo session. Once back inside, an invocation was given and dinner was served. This was truly a memorable occasion through all of the friendships that were created! I hope that you enjoy the photo stream from this celebration, but more than that—I hope that you are able to attend next year. We’ll save a spot for you.