My beautiful niece, Kristin, received the sacrament of Confirmation on May 31, 2025.  Confirmation in the Catholic faith completes the grace of the sacrament of Baptism.  That is, we receive the Holy Spirit when we are baptized and by receiving the sacrament of Confirmation, “the baptized are more perfectly bound to the Church and are enriched with a special strength of the Holy Spirit…they are…true witnesses of Christ, more strictly obliged to spread and defend the faith by word and deed.”  (Catechism, No. 1285)

I was honored to be Kristin’s Confirmation sponsor.  The last time I was a Confirmation sponsor was at my cousin’s Caroline’s Confirmation back in 2019.  This time, the same emotions of joy and humility washed over me.  I reminisced about my own Confirmation and how sacred that experience was for me.  I prayed Kristin would have a similar experience. 

At the church, we had assigned seats.  Bishop Michael Martin of the Diocese of Charlotte was present meaning we had a chance to have the bishop administer Confirmation to Kristin! 

My dad looked at me and said, “As Kristin’s sponsor, you need to make sure she gets Bishop Martin.”

We (brother, Michael, sister-in-law, Shannon, Godsons, Andrew and Josh, and Kristin) laughed and I responded, “What?!  I don’t have any control over that!”

Dad did not like that answer.  He gave me a stern look and said, “Kristin gets the bishop or don’t bother coming home.”

I rolled my eyes and Shannon, who was sitting next to me whispered, “Is your dad being serious?!”

LOL!!!

As fate would have it, Bishop Martin stood on our side of the church!  Thank you, Holy Spirit!

When our row was called, Kristin and I fell into the line leading up to the bishop.  We were both filled with excitement and nervousness.  I gave Kristin encouragement and she took a deep breath.  We were next!

We walked up to Bishop Martin and I said, “Bishop Martin, I present to you, Catherine” (Kristin’s Confirmation name).

Bishop Martin dipped his thumb into the consecrated oil, made the sign of the cross on Kristin’s forehead, and said, “Catherine, be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Kristin responded, “Amen.”

Bishop Martin concluded with these words, “Peace be with you.”

Kristin responded, “And with your spirit.”

Now, that’s what Kristin was supposed to say.  As it turned out, she blanked and said, “Amen” twice, but not at the right times.  I told her it was ok!  In fact, the boy sitting in the pew behind us didn’t say anything when it was his turn.  We could hear his mom telling other family members, her poor son just stared at the bishop!  So, I whispered to Kristin, “At least you said something!”  She laughed and felt better.  Kristin told me she was so happy to receive this sacrament.  That made my heart smile. 

Our special pic with Bishop Martin!

Kristin with her dad and grandpa.

Kristin and her mom are beautiful and look like twins!

After the Confirmation ceremony, we all went up to receive Communion.  As Kristin and I headed back to our pew, Dad was walking away from us.  I asked him where he was going.

Dad answered, “I’m going to get Communion from the bishop!”

As Dad walked confidently to the other side of the church, Michael and the boys came back from Communion.  They all asked me where Dad/Grandpa was going.  So, I explained to them what was going on. 

At first, we could not locate Dad because there were so many people in line to receive Communion.  Then, I found him!  We all saw him in line, but not in the right line.  Dad needed to be one line over to receive Communion from Bishop Martin.

“Why isn’t Dad getting into the other line?”  I wondered aloud.

We all laughed when we saw that Dad would not receive Communion from Bishop Martin. 

And we all watched as Dad made his way back to us shaking his head. 

Mission not accomplished!  LOL!!!

I was the first to say, “That wasn’t the bishop, Dad!  Now, you can’t come home!”

Then, Michael piled on, “Yeah, Dad!  You didn’t even get a real priest!  You got the intern!”

LOL!!!

Dad acknowledged defeat when he sighed and said, “Pride goes before the fall…” 

You definitely need to have thick skin to survive my family.  We can be relentless with the teasing. 

I selected this photo shoot to complement Kristin’s Confirmation.  The location was St. Clement’s Island, MD where 150 or so Catholic and Protestant settlers and two Jesuit priests landed on March 25, 1634 seeking religious freedom.  Their initial action included erecting a cross and having Catholic Mass, the first in MD.  Jesuit priest, Father Andrew White, was the celebrant. 

For this look, I paired the Alexia blue platform sandals by Michael Kors with shorts and a blue top.  I love the cork heels and the crisscross style.  It is very summery to me.  The heels are pretty high at approximately 4.25 inches, but the platform helps at approximately .5 inches.  These are probably not the best heels to walk around a small island.  Fortunately, I did bring flats to help with the uneven ground.

The island was ok, but aside from the big cross, there wasn’t much to do aside from fishing (boring…lol!).  So, we didn’t spend too much time on the island after the photo shoot.  On the boat ride back, we met a cute fashionista.  I wish I could remember name, but she was very sweet and indicated that she wanted to have a fashion blog one day too.  I told her I would put her in my blog.  🙂

Isn’t she a cutie?!  She had a Chanel hat too!  

Have a great week!  Lizzy’s Latest will be back for the 4th of July post!  Until then, enjoy the pics!

Style with a Smile.

XoXo,

Lizzy