Yesterday I had my twice-a-month session with the five young men who are in my confirmation class. We are struggling through this process, the guys and I. I freely admit that teaching confirmation is not one of my greater gifts. I think if asked they would admit that sitting in the church basement on a sunny beautiful Wednesday afternoon, listening to some 'old lady' talk incessantly about God is just not that fun.

But we're doing it.

We made a covenant at the first session, the terms of which I am honor bound to NOT reveal, since we are playing by Vegas rules: the specifics of what happens in Confirmation, stays in Confirmation. But I can tell you this:

We have come to the point in the process where it was time for the boys to try their hand at writing a statement of faith. I showed them various examples from our Book of Confessions, I read to them my statement of faith from my candidacy process, we reviewed some basic theological questions from previous sessions, and then I cut them loose. I put each kid in a separate quiet location with a sheet of legal pad and a #2 pencil and told them to write/pray/meditate for 20 minutes.

The results were stunning.

I don't remember being 13/14 and being able to understand my relationship with God, much less being able to write a more or less definitive-in-the-moment statement about it. It has helped me to see what a blessing those boys are in my life, how lucky I am to be in a position to journey with them, and how wonderful this congregation is. It was a good day. Thanks be to God.