Our oldest son, Austin, was confirmed last weekend. Hal and I did not grow up in a tradition with confirmation, so this was a new experience for us. We were impressed by how Austin chose to embrace this opportunity to affirm the promises we made on his behalf at his baptism as an infant. It became, for him, a rite of passage into a faith he is choosing to own.

In an effort to be intentional about this rite of passage, we approached all of our children with the idea that we might make short presentations at our gathering of family and friends after the service. The purpose of the presentations would be to tell Austin what we think about him and to affirm those aspects of who he is that are wonderful. Immediately, each of the children, including Austin, thought this was a terrific idea. Austin decided that he would use the opportunity to thank those who had helped him arrive at this point in his faith.

Because we are so proud of Austin and because you might enjoy the things we shared that day, I asked permission of my husband and each of my children to share their presentations here on my blog. The nine-year-old younger brother is still considering his permission, so for now, I will share from Haley, myself and my husband, and from Austin.

Today, here is Haley’s presentation about her older brother. She is 11 and 2y 5m younger than Austin:

Austin is a great young man. He is responsible, friendly, easygoing, sometimes humorous and sometimes serious. He is a kind and gentle young man and I am so proud of him of becoming what he is now. At home he is sometimes a little mean but is always nice even when he is mean. He does a lot for God and I know God is proud of him, too, in this moment. I love him so much and will never be mad at him because he made a stupid mistake or did something wrong to me or Aidan. Even though he may be mean sometimes, he’s my brother and I will always forgive him.

Thank you, sweet Haley, for being a wonderful sister, and for your permission to post this.