Baptized Together

Back to late July...

Coming home from Colorado on Saturday, we arrived at our house to find my parents already there! They even picked up Ginger for us, saving us another 2 hours of driving. Hooray! We had 3 baptisms the next morning, and we absolutely wanted to share this joyful experience with all 4 of our parents. Nothing like cramming it all in, right?! Oh, and since Derek had so much energy after our week in Colorado, he replaced our water heater the very night we got home. I guess his wife and in-laws wanted hot showers the next morning for church. :)

"A little child will lead them...Isaiah 11:6"
Aaron started asking us about baptism a year ago. We explained what it means and why we do it. We brought him to baptism services so he could see them. He kept bringing it up, so we presented the idea to all 3 boys. Braylen and Kaleb initially did not want to be baptized, so we challenged them to think about it and pray about it. We wanted this to be their decision, not ours. When we went camping this past June, we talked about it some more. By early July we had our answer...all 3 boys wanted to be baptized. Each boy wrote out his testimony, and we scheduled a meeting with our pastor.

Watching each of my sons boldly share his testimony in front of our large congregation made my heart very, very happy. :) Their faces glowed, and their eyes shone. Derek partnered with our pastor and together they baptized each of our boys, one by one, while I stood on stage and tried to hold myself together! Baptisms always bring out my emotional side, but my own sons' baptisms? PURE JOY AND BLESSINGS!

Kaleb wanted to go first. Kaleb! The verse he chose to share with his testimony was Jeremiah 32:17. "Oh, Lord God, You Yourself made the heavens and earth with your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You."

Braylen went next. He shared two verses, John 3:16 and Philippians 4:13. The verse in John meant the most to him as a young boy. The verse in Philippians means the most to him as a teenager.  It says, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."

Aaron, who first brought up the idea of being baptized, wanted to be last! His testimony had two parts: his and mine. He read his part, and Pastor Mike read my part. Aaron's verse is John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."

With "How Great is our God" playing in the background, each boy took his turn in the water. Here they are...

Kaleb

Braylen

Aaron

"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." Philippians 3:20-21

Three Generations :)

Our celebration lunch was at a favorite restaurant. After such a whirlwind of a week and weekend, who had time to prepare a meal?! Thank you to all of my extended family for making this day so special!