Confirmation

For the past 8 months, Anne was Confirmation mentor to a sweet 12 year-old girl named Gabi (pronounced Ga-BEE).  For the Confirmation process at our church, they do a really cool thing; each youth is given a mentor to join them in monthly classes, and to spend time getting to know them and talking with them about life, faith, etc.  Gabi & Anne had a good time together throughout the whole process, and the friendship will definitely continue beyond Confirmation.

Last weekend was the Confirmation banquet on Saturday, and Confirmation Sunday for the morning church service.  All of it was meant to celebrate each youth for the unique gifts they each bring to life.  

Gabi, with her mom Julia (who happens to be the church organist).

For the Sunday service, Anne got to get up in front of the congregation to share about Gabi, and how she is incredibly intelligent, thoughtful, compassionate, outgoing, adventurous (was born in Brazil and continues to love travel), she's nearly fluent in French, runs track, is involved in drama at school, is an older sister & a younger sister, sings Soprano in the choir, and plays piano like a champ!  What stands out most about Gabi is her perceptive eye...for both people and creative outlets.  She's very good at seeing the good in people and situations (she's always positive and likes to make others smile) and she also has a creative flair with crafting together anything with color (art, clothes, beads, stickers, etc).  

Gabi's maturity stood out during the conversations she had with Anne, especially during Confirmation class.  We talked about things like whether or not it's OK to question if God exists, what would God look like, why do bad things happen to good people, did Osama Bin Laden really deserve to die?, what is the Rapture and why do people take it literally, should the Bible be read literally or not?, what kind of social justice issues are important to you, how to pray, and lots more...  

Anne was a very serious mentor, as you can see.

Each Confirmand was given a patch for the Confirmation banner on display.

It eventually became obvious that Anne was Gabi's mentor not just for Gabi, but also to open the door for her little brother, Alex, to meet Brian.  Her family had us over for dinner one night, and Alex immediately took a liking to Brian and they have become fast buds.  Alex's mom said that normally Alex is quiet and serious, but when he met Brian, he lit up and was goofy and filled with laughter like she hadn't seen in a while.

Alex & Brian have become fast buddies.

Brian is a popular guy with the kids (and adults, for that matter) at church.  Whenever Anne walks in alone, someone (a child or an adult) is bound to come up to her and say with enthusiasm, "Where's Brian?!?!"  Wherever he goes, he attracts people!

This weekend we took Gabi & Alex bowling, and they obviously had a boring time.

Then we took them out for waffles, and Gabi obviously didn't like her's.

 It's so neat to be a part of a church that emphasizes the celebration of each youth for the individuals they are.  It's been such a gift for Anne to be a mentor, and for both Brian and Anne to get to know some really cool kids in our church family!