May 14th, 2017- The Baptism of the Webster children

I know we will have many special days for our family but Mother's Day 2017 will go down as a milestone to remember right up there with weddings, birth of babies and more. On this Mother's Day all three of my children were baptized. Bennett and Will were ready and had been asking for years to be baptized. We wanted to wait until Lainey was old enough to fully grasp that she was asking Jesus Christ to be her savior and that she was making a public proclamation of her faith. We met with our pastor so he could talk with Lainey and he believed she was ready.

I grew up Baptist so I wanted to wait until my children were old enough to fully understand the concept of Baptism. But the Methodist church believes infants can be baptized too. The prevailing thought (among many) is taken from the scripture, “Let the little children come to me…for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs” (Mark 10:14). However, a more consistent argument is that baptism, as a means of grace, signifies God’s initiative in the process of salvation. John Wesley preached “prevenient grace,” the grace that works in our lives before we are aware of it, bringing us to faith. The baptism of children and their inclusion in the church before they can respond with their own confirmation of faith is a vivid and compelling witness to prevenient grace.

All three of my children could have been baptized in the Methodist church from the time they were born. With the older two ready to publicly accept Jesus, I became comfortable with the understanding that Baptism is a divine act, a pledge and gift God gives to us. Baptism of infants includes the reaffirmation of the vows of the baptismal covenant by parents, family members, friends and the congregation; but chiefly it celebrates what God is doing and will do in the life of the infant/child.

With all that being said, I was ready for all three of my children to be baptized at the same time and knew it would be a special day that would bond them together forever.

In addition to the children being Baptized, we were also asked to do the morning liturgy in honor of Mother's Day. Here we are waiting for our turn to welcome the congregation. I thought I might burst with pride.

There has never been a picture that summed up my children more accurately.

Little Lainey bug left alone on the pew to wave to her Daddy.

Reciting the Apostle's Creed.

Will introducing the morning hymn.

Rob caught this picture during the prayer and it is now one of my all time favorites.

Pastor Kory and Pastor Tim preparing for the baptism.

The Baptism of Caroline Bennett Webster

The Baptism of William Lang Webster

The Baptism of Lainey Kathryn Webster

May 14th, 2017. A day we will never forget. To God be all the glory.