Children of the Lord

I am so blessed to have two, beautiful, healthy, easy-going, loving children. I ask myself all the time why God chose to bless us with the sweetest children. I am so unworthy of this gift (ask my mom - I was a horrible baby!!). I believe that, in return, we are called to raise our children in a church family so they may have the opportunity to know and love Christ. When I was baptized at age three, my mom told me that it was her promise to God that she would raise me in the church.

In the United Methodist faith, we don't believe that Baptism is required in order to enter Heaven, but we do believe that it is a sacrament that Jesus calls us to continue. In our faith, we also believe that baptism is symbolic of God's grace, a gift that cannot be earned, it is given freely to all of God's children. Because of this, baptism is a sacrament that the Methodist church recognizes once in a person's lifetime, regardless of age or denomination. We also do not require a "believer's baptism" because God's grace is not chosen by the recipient. Jackson was baptized when he was 10 months old, and Brenna was baptized yesterday at 2 1/2 months.

Our sweet family members in the Dallas area all came to Brenna's baptism. We are so lucky to have such a great support network in Dallas! I can literally count on one hand the number of times we have had to hire a babysitter - our family is always willing and usually able to watch the kids for us. Steven's grandmothers (the Memas I mentioned last week) were able to make it, as were Steven's parents, my parents, and Steven's brother and his fiancee. I am so glad we got a family picture - the only person missing is my sister, who lives in Brooklyn. She is coming home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas and I am so excited to see her!

Three of our pastors participated in the baptism - Todd, Brian, and Adam. Todd (holding Brenna) is the senior pastor and was one of the associate pastors at the church I grew up in. He is a genuinely nice, caring person and such an excellent leader for our church. He is always smiling and stops to ask how everything is going every time I see him at the church. In fact, when we started looking for churches, we came to FUMC first because I knew he was a pastor there. It was such a great fit, we never visited anywhere else. Todd also conducted Jackson's baptism two years ago. Brian is the executive pastor, and he is so funny. He has a love for music that really shows and he is also always smiling, but his smile somehow has more mischief in it than Todd's does. He is the type of person who can become friends with anyone and always makes me feel so welcome. Adam (red hair) is the Youth Pastor and since we volunteer for the Youth program, our family is very close to him. Adam also has a big heart for music and he has a wife named Maridyth who I just adore. She is so sweet and she stuck around to witness Brenna's baptism too.

Brenna was so perfectly behaved during the entire ceremony. She just laid in Todd's arms and chilled, even when the holy water was placed on her little head. I was so scared that she would spit up all over the place, but she was relaxed and happy the whole time. She is such an easy baby for about 23 1/2 hours a day. Almost every night she has a half-hour meltdown right after Jackson goes to bed, which honestly, I can deal with since she is so laid-back the rest of the day.

After the service, we moved the party to our house for food and cupcakes. I forgot to get a picture of the cupcake cake, but it was so cute!!! We ordered 24 chocolate and vanilla cupcakes in the shape of a white cross with light pink frosting around the edge and "God Bless Brenna" written on it. It was really cute and, more importantly, really delicious! We also served fruit salad and mini-quiches, which the men gobbled up because I made the mistake of letting them sit at the food table. Oh well, at least we didn't have a lot of leftovers! Steven realized when we got home that we had forgotten to pick up drinks, so he and my dad went to get some. They returned with two liters of Coke and a case of beer. This is why we shouldn't let the Canadian help pick out drinks (Dad, if you're reading this, I know Steven had a hand in picking the beer too!).

The whole celebration was lots of fun and we were so lucky to have our families there with us. Here is a picture of my mom holding Brenna - she is so thrilled with being a Grandma! Brenna's dress was perfect for the day - just the right amount of sweet and not too fussy. And hallelujah, she didn't spit up all over it until AFTER the baptism. I found the dress at Old Navy last spring before Brenna was even born, and I thought it would be perfect, so I snapped it up, not even knowing for sure if it would fit her! When I put it on yesterday morning, I knew it was perfect! (Side note: how precious is Jackson in his little button-down and khaki pants? My big big boy!)

Congratulations, Brenna! I pray that this is just the beginning of your life-long relationship with Christ.