Confirmation Day!

We are so proud of our girl! Last week we celebrated her confirmation. She was the lone confirmand and answered all the questions by herself while wearing a microphone headset. Talk about pressure! She not only took the year long class (with her dad several times a week to shorten it to a year) seriously, but she worked hard to be prepared for the examination at church.  

I felt really torn about the occasion. It felt weird not being at Divine Word where she was baptized and grew up around our church family there. I know they would have been excited for her and would have celebrated with us. 

On the other hand, our Grace church family has fallen in love with her! They were so excited to share in this special day. They even went so far as to take all the Lenten purple down and put up all the red (gasp!! - in the middle of Lent!) so we could focus on confirmation and what it means. 

Her confirmation verse was 1 John 3:1, How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 

Because confirmation is intrinsically linked to our baptism, I really wanted to bring elements from her baptism into the celebration of the day. It helped to bridge the distance of Divine Word by including this aspect. 

Gabriele had made this banner for her for her baptism and it hung in her room for years over her bed. It's been tucked away in the cedar chest lately but it felt like an old friend was celebrating with us! 

Ellen has made the cross-stitch commemorating her baptism and I set this out next to the picture of that special day. Though no one from Divine Word was physically present that day, it felt like they were celebrating with us. 

I had help decorating the fellowship hall. My mom and dad were in town so mom was able to help a lot with the preparations both at church and at home.

Grace member, Kathie, was eager to put her special touches on the decor and brought in beautiful spring blooms of the season - dogwood, wild flowers, and azaleas. 

Zanna had her own cheerleaders with her that day - cousin Claire and friend Brooklyn. They helped her relax and have some fun!

We also had another reason to celebrate on that day. My parents became members of Grace!

The three of them were able to take their vows together. And in case you're wondering, my parents still live up north and don't intend to move anywhere at least at this point. This is something they wanted to do for their own reasons. 

As previously mentioned, the Halldo family was represented by cousin Claire and Uncle Brent. We appreciated the effort they made to come the night before and camp in pouring rain so they could attend for the day.

The dress she wore was actually my confirmation dress back in 1989. My godmother sewed it for the occasion. Since then my sister and my cousin have worn it for their confirmations! 

We had neighbors and friends and church family come to the service to support her. The music included many of our family favourite hymns, My Hope is Built on Nothing Less (my confirmation hymn), God's Word is Our Great Heritage (requested by her), I am Jesus' Little Lamb, There Is a Higher Throne, The Lamb, and Go, My Children, with My Blessing (my high school graduation class hymn).

We celebrated with cake afterwards in the beautifully decorated fellowship area.

Afterwards we invited everyone out to our place for lunch. Mom helped me with making salads, set up, etc the day before and it made entertaining so much easier! Wayne picked up BBQ brisket the day before to add the Texas touch. 

Her godparents couldn't be here but again, I included their past gifts and memories made from their hands making it feel like they were included in the day. I had her baptism gown that her godmother, Karen, had made on display along with a handmade book filled with artistic thoughts and prayers based on the church year. 

It had been raining all weekend and I was disappointed that it would keep our open house IN the house. But God is good and the rain lifted long enough for people to enjoy the screened in porch and the picnic table outside.  Thank you, Lord! 

It was such a special day and we made so many wonderful memories. We have so much to be thankful for: 

*First and foremost faith in Jesus given to Hosanna as a baby in the waters of Baptism and her continued spiritual growth and understanding of Christian doctrine as she's matured and been taught. 

*The friends and church family that supported her in her Christian upbringing back in Ottawa

*The new friends and church family that have willingly stepped up to continue encouraging this young lady and loving her with their support, friendship, and prayers

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare to make no other claim, but wholly lean on Jesus name. On Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand. 

CW 382