When we moved to America, I had to resit my driving test to get a US license. I went along to the test centre and felt a bit strange amidst all the young new drivers for whom this was a life changing moment, after all I had been driving for years - I just hadn't been driving in America.
I felt equally strange as I arrived at Chelmsford Cathedral yesterday to be confirmed. It was over thirty years since I had joined the church in Scotland, since I had decided to follow Christ and I felt a little fraudulent amongst all those for whom this was a life changing day, a momentous occasion.
At least that was how I started the service.....
....But I was wrong, joyfully wrong. It turned out to be a very special, unforgettable occasion. A chance for me to reflect on my journey from where I was as a young girl joining the church, to where God has been leading me, to reflect on the people who have played a part in that journey for me, and, when the moment came to give my vow and turn to Christ, a unique opportunity to say yes all over again and as Bishop Stephen anointed my head with oil, to feel once again the power of these words
" Christ claims you for his own."
What will the next years bring? Who knows, no doubt I will try, and fail, and try again to follow Christ as we all do, but I will also know, as I learned again this Sunday, that he will be right there beside me, that somehow, not of my doing, I matter to him - it was truly a surprising confirmation.
I felt equally strange as I arrived at Chelmsford Cathedral yesterday to be confirmed. It was over thirty years since I had joined the church in Scotland, since I had decided to follow Christ and I felt a little fraudulent amongst all those for whom this was a life changing day, a momentous occasion.
At least that was how I started the service.....
....But I was wrong, joyfully wrong. It turned out to be a very special, unforgettable occasion. A chance for me to reflect on my journey from where I was as a young girl joining the church, to where God has been leading me, to reflect on the people who have played a part in that journey for me, and, when the moment came to give my vow and turn to Christ, a unique opportunity to say yes all over again and as Bishop Stephen anointed my head with oil, to feel once again the power of these words
" Christ claims you for his own."
What will the next years bring? Who knows, no doubt I will try, and fail, and try again to follow Christ as we all do, but I will also know, as I learned again this Sunday, that he will be right there beside me, that somehow, not of my doing, I matter to him - it was truly a surprising confirmation.
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