Did you know it takes three women to get a baby ready for her baptism? Two to get her dressed, and one to take pictures! Her lovely outfit (complete with crocheted gown, headband, slippers and pacifier chord, were made by Brenda Wiersma, her adopted Auntie, and it was gorgeous!
And here is our girl, all dressed and ready for her first trip to church. Her mamma was a bit nervous about how she would do, but her grandparents have known for some time that she is an exceptional girl, and we weren't worried at all!
Here is the photogenic family after the worship service. The baptism included all of us standing together with the two pastors as they prayed for Emma, and reminded us all of God's promises to His people. But it was also a sober time of reflecting on the fact that as we bring Emma into this covenant family, she is obligated to follow God with her whole heart. If she doesn't do that, she now becomes a covenant breaker. That is a sobering thought! But Emma slept through the entire thing, just like she is in the photo above. She did beautifully, and looked adorable the whole time.
Emma had both of her grandmothers and one grandfather standing there along with her parents. I couldn't help thinking about Tim's baptism, and the vows we took for him when he was a baby. God has been so gracious to answer those prayers, and to give Tim a heart of flesh to follow after Himself. And now, that call is both extended and continued in Emma! God is so very good!
We should be seeing Emma (and her parents) again in two weeks in Virginia, when we gather there for a special wedding. I'm not sure how we can keep coming up with excuses to see her every few weeks, but it has been a delight to see how she's already grown. And we continue to pray for her to have a heart of flesh, not one of stone, and that she will never know a day when she didn't call Jesus her Savior and Lord.
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I've been waiting for these pics! We have on a wall a photo of us with Abby for her baptism, along with a copy of the church bulletin and the lyrics we re-wrote to "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and have used with all the baptisms of our children.
I was particularly struck with the "heart of flesh" idea, thinking at first glance not of the opposite "heart of stone" but of the associations like "of the earth, earthy" and "not spirit." But the Lord gives us hearts of flesh, just the way He wants them to be in all our frailty. How much better than hearts of stone, the kind we have in our own foolish determination.
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