Thank You!

Yesterday was the big day! Abby has been going to confirmation classes at our church for the past three years to be able to be confirmed.  Abby was confirmed – confirmation to us is an affirmation of baptism. It is also now a public affirmation of your faith in God. I am so glad I didn’t have to stand up in front of the church when I was being confirmed, and give a speech like the young people today have to. I would have died on the spot. But the young people today have been prepared very well and even though you could tell some of them were very scared – they all did a beautiful job.

Now, as most of you know Abby is special. Abby has special needs. Abby cannot talk. At. All. Abby will be a young person for her whole life. Abby is a light into my heart. My feelings for Abby run so deep that I rarely let them come all the way to the surface because I get swept away. Well, that happened yesterday. Pastor Paul asked the confirmands to come up, one family at a time. We were sitting in the front and got up and stood in the isle to wait our turn. I turned around to make sure our families were coming with us and I saw everyone coming up and I lost it. This huge group of people was making it’s way to the front of the church - my sisters, my brother, my parents, Grant’s mom, my sisters-in-law, my grandparents, and more… just everyone… I thought “All these people are here to show their love for Abby – she’ll never be alone”. Special. Abby. Sweet. Abby. Pure. Innocent. Abby. My feelings came all the way to the surface and I started shaking like a leaf and I started to cry. Apparently I started a chain reaction. We are an emotional family. I tried as best as I could to contain it but sometimes all that love spills over. I remember putting my hand on Abby along with a lot of other hands, and the people who couldn’t reach her put their hand on the person in front of them and we blessed Abby. I felt that love of God and family come through me to Abby. It was amazing.

Then we had an open house at our home. My wonderful friend, Julie, had stayed behind to get everything ready so I could just come home and visit with the family. My wonderful friend, Carmen, stayed to help me clean up. My wonderful friend, Mona, made some amazing food to share… It was a great day. I am surrounded by awesome people. Who love Abby too. Everyone came together to celebrate Abby. Geez – excuse me while I go get a tissue - and God Bless all of you. Thank you.

Side note: Our confirmation program is such a wonderful program. Our kids are influenced by so many things in the world today that it is sometimes hard to get our point of view across to them – we have to be heard through the noise of computers, friends, MTV... Well, confirmation helps tremendously. It is a couple hours a few times a month and they learn about God, our doctrines, and being a good person. They are not going to forget it. They will carry, if not the exact lessons learned, the feelings of church for the rest of their lives. Ach – it is hard to explain.