Recently we had the privilege of welcoming several new members to Joy Lutheran Church. As always, it was an uplifting moment to hear these new members affirm their faith in loud and clear voices with the words, “I do, and I ask God to help and guide me.” We ask God’s blessings on each of them.
Personally, I remember affirming my faith on the day of my Confirmation – Palm Sunday 1954. Dressed in white with Easter lilies abounding, we knelt before our beloved old Pastor while he blessed us and gave us the Confirmation verse which we would hold dear for life.

That evening, we returned to church for the congregation’s cherished “Reunion Service.” Current members and their families were there; older members who had moved away came back. After a hymn and Scripture reading, it was time to go through the member roll call. Beginning with those confirmed that very morning, we were called on to stand and recite our Confirmation verse. The roll call went back year by year, pausing to lovingly remember those who had already gone on to the Church triumphant. As we reached back in the years, I was always intrigued by members who recited their verses in German.

But one memory of this service stands out above all others; when the Pastor got back to the Class of 1922, he called out the name of my father. Now my Dad was small of stature, but he always spoke out clearly and confidently the verse that meant so much to him.

“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.” Psalm 27:4

I can still hear my Dad reciting these words each Palm Sunday evening. One thing have I desired . . . One thing have I desired . . . One thing have I desired – to put God first, to dwell in His house, to behold His beauty. Dad truly lived by those words for all the 89 years of his life.

Read Psalm 27:1-5. Read it aloud if you wish. Read it as your commitment to your loving Father. Remember that He hears your words because God loves you unconditionally!

Judy

Adapted from a post in 2016