HDYDI: First Communion Week {Preparing Your Heart}

Welcome to First Communion Week at Team Whitaker!

This is the first post of a five-part series:
Preparing Your Heart (What the Sacrament Means)
Looking Your Best (Invitations and Clothes) + FREE Printable & Veil GIVEAWAY
Preserving the Memory (Pictures and Gift Ideas) + Rosary GIVEAWAY
Feeding the Troops (Flowers and Food) + FREE Printable
Saying Thanks (Notes and Godparents) + Bowl GIVEAWAY

Source (flowers); all others, copyright Team Whitaker

All week, I’ll be sharing some awesome (and when I say awesome, I mean it) giveaways, some food prep ideas, flower inspiration, photo tips, must-have clothes and gift suggestions. There will be lovely photos and some links to great places. But, the real reason I’m hosting this week is quite simple:

First Communion is a big deal in your child’s life.

It’s likely the first sacrament your child will remember and it is a day full of blessed emotions. I’ve had the honor of being a part of two such days in my boys’ lives and now it’s the first girl’s turn. Maybe I’m a sap because I converted in my late 20s and my first communion was an hour before my rehearsal dinner – along with my confirmation and, less than 24 hours later, matrimony. Whatever the reason, I want to share the joy with all of you. Even if you’re not Catholic, I’m betting you know someone who is. Perhaps this week you’ll get a glimpse into why it’s a Sacrament we all adore and why the Eucharist is a central part of our faith.

Last year, I wrote a reflection on my son’s big day and three years ago I shared these thoughts. I will tell you, my emotions came completely out of left field. I had no idea the impact seeing my children participate in this sacrament would have on me. I should’ve known. I was a teary mess at all five baptisms. In a good way, but a mess nonetheless. There’s just something about feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit that boils it all down to the things that really matter.

The preparation for this day has really been a lifelong one. Every Mass your child has attended. Every rosary she has recited. Every religious education class. Every social justice project. Every prayer whispered. Every hug given. It’s the culmination of your love, poured into your child from God. Whether being active in your parish is something you’ve done since your child’s birth or in the weeks preceding First Communion, there is a place for every child, and her parents, at the altar.

As you celebrate your child’s first communion, reflect on it from year’s gone by or look forward to the future, know that it is a special day worth remembering and celebrating. God brings the party, you provide the details.

TOMORROW: Looking Your Best (Invitations, Clothes, a FREE Printable and a GIVEAWAY)

For more HDYDI posts, visit my How I Do It Page.