June 3, 2007
Confirmation Sunday!!! Wow today was an awesome day!! I woke up this morning soooo nervous about the service. I curled my hair, got my dress on (a little scare with that, the zipper wasn’t working but we got it after the millionth try.) We got to church around 8 for pictures. But all we did until the group picture was hang out. So, it was alright. And I was getting less and less nervous as the minutes passed. When the service started, I was okay, almost excited. I read the gathering prayer and got confirmed! Had communion and then after the service I (and all the others from my confirmation class) went to stand outside of the sanctuary so everyone could say congrats and shake our hands. I said a LOT of thank you’s during that. I smiled a TON that morning. (Dad even came to church!)
After the service we headed home, got the food for the party, and headed up to the lake with Mrs. Willow and Cathy following mom and I. During the party we sat around, talked, ate, had the LOVELY cake, (with mine and Mrs. Willow’s pic on it!) and after a few families left the rest of us went on the boat! (Oh, I opened presents from everyone before we went on the boat) after the boat ride, me, Eddie, Meryl and Mrs. Willow’s daughter went to play catch in the street. HE was outside and I swear he was looking over at us! Hehe! IDK! We played catch for a while and then Mrs. Willow left. So, it was us 5 and Cathy. She hung out with us til around 8 and left. So, we’re staying at the lake on a school night. First time! Hopefully dad will wake me up at the right time.
<3 gooooood day!
Ava Estelle
Present day me: This was an awesome accomplishment day for me but also a really sad day at the same time in hindsight. A few weeks before the date I was to be confirmed at church I received a letter from my pastor. She was our teacher all school year. She spent every Wednesday with us at church, along with other numerous events and trips over the year. We had a lot of requirements to accomplish during that school year to be confirmed. This letter I received at school one morning from a girl who was also in my confirmation class. It was from our teacher/pastor and the message she wrote was she wasn’t going to be able to join us for our confirmation Sunday this year. There had been a note slipped into her mailbox at church with a death threat written on it. Everyone assumed it was from someone without our congregation. Because of this threat she decided to leave town before our confirmation Sunday. We didn’t know our last time we saw her was going to be our last time. Only one person from our class ended up staying at that church after this momentous day, fourteen of us shared. We experienced so much love, compassion, and friendship during our year learning about the church. I was legitimately ready to be an actual member with my own name tag within everyone else’s in the entryway. I remember always being excited for that since our first year there. Then weeks before the end, before celebration, is heartache and sadness. I will never ever forget this experience I had with getting confirmed in the Methodist church. I am shaking a little even writing this out because it was so emotional.
Another part of this entry is Mrs. Willow. She was a teacher of mine in middle school, then was my mentor during my confirmation year. I was so happy to learn she was a member of my church!! It was a really special relationship I had with her. It was strange going from being her student in class to being mentored by her and able to call her by her first name instead of Mrs. Willow. She is such a kind soul and I’m so grateful she was a part of my childhood.
Lastly, when I mention HE in this entry that isn’t God I’m referring to. It’s a boy who lived across the street from our cabin/lake house. I didn’t know his name at this time, but I knew he was a little older than me and looked cute! So, I was always hoping he’d come out and hang with us while we were playing catch in the street, right in front of his house. Every time we visited the cabin, sometimes I’d see him get off the bus with his brother! Other times I’d walk down the long driveway to “check the mail” and see if he was hanging in his yard. Hahaha oh the memories that come back while reading these entries! Thanks for taking the time to read this momentous moment of mine!!!!! 😊
