Episode 7: The Boogie — Matt Towles

Each year, we have a particular celebration, an event, really, that Emma & I look forward to. No, it’s not a birthday party (but I’ll get to that in a later post). Our church, every year in February, hosts a Daddy-Daughter Dance, and Emma & I have gone nearly every year for the past decade. (COVID killed last year’s, but I figure you’d figure that).

The picture from our first dance. We haven’t aged a bit.

So, a dance.

In a church building.

So, what’s the point?

That’s a great question, because I can testify to the fact that no offering is taken, Bible preached, souls saved, none of that. Well, not at the event, that is. I don’t know how many times I have heard that the Dance is the ‘first time someone has gone into a church building’ for any reason. We don’t do it for zero reason, but it doesn’t seem very churchy.

So, why do we go?

From the outside looking in, we’re not even doing anything particularly spiritual at the Dance. I’m not teaching any big lessons. So, we’re not memorizing scripture in between songs. There’s no ceremony that I’ll promise to be a good dad or that she’ll promise to be a good daughter. I’m not even talking to her about future boyfriends or marriage.

Again, I ask: why do we go?

Well, friend, we go to boogie. To cut a rug. To shake a leg. To dance for so long, I walk to the car on legs wobbly from the effort.

You know, to have fun. To exercise a particular type of spiritual discipline: joy. Emma & I believe that Joy comes from God—it’s His particular gift to humanity. It’s a shame that Christians forget (and, yes, I’m including me in this one) that Jesus loved a good time. A gathering. A party.

This, friends, might be the greatest evidence of Godliness in my daughter’s life. Her joy. She likes a good time, and she’s not afraid to have fun. She has fun, and she wants to share it with others. So, if you’re counting, Joy comes first, but generosity comes a close second.

The point of the dance, for us, is the fun. The dressing up. The dinner. The dance—everything from the cha-cha slide to Sweet Caroline. All of it.

No real reason, other than a good time. Good thing that’s Emma’s specialty. It’s fun to have fun. Thank God.