Who is going to make you happy?

At dinner last night, I was struck by the story of a girl who recently broke off a long relationship with a boy, only to turn around and begin another one, with a different boy.  This is a rebound.  Many people have experienced it to some degree, at some point.  A friend leaves you (painfully), and replaces you the next day with someone/something else.

This conversation happened at the dinner table.  You see, I sit right across from my daughter.  She just turned 21.  Months old. 

I couldn't help but draw the connection to her. 

Someday, in the future that comes at us so quickly, she will be a girl searching for love and meaning and happiness.  Things will appear to be crashing around her, and she will grasp for something. The temptation will be there to simply rebound onto another [false] thing. 

So, I looked at her last night and asked her who would really make her happy.  She stared blankly, then gave me a toothy grin.  "Say Jesus," I said.  "E-thsus," she said. 

"So who will make you happy?" 

"E-thsus." 

Maybe this is the most important thing I can teach her.  Maybe it is the most important question I will ever ask her.  Maybe this is the most important question I need to answer, and keep answering.