Jonah's Baptism

Our Little Family

A quiet moment before the service. Emma was excited to go up front with us.

This would be one of the only pictures I got of him this day. Things were crazy with helping out at church and then getting home for Emma's party.

Jonah was baptized this past Sunday by Poppa (Becky's Dad). It was a very special occasion in which Mike and I were able to dedicate Jonah to the Lord and formally pledge to bring him up in a home that loves the Lord and works to teach Jonah about God and guide him to the place that he makes a personal confession of faith and asks Jesus to be his Lord and Savior by his own decision.

Many people have different opinions about baptism and since we chose to have Jonah baptized as an infant I wanted to explain what that means. First of all, it does not mean that he is a Christian. Here are the vows we took as his parents:

1. Do you acknowledge your child's need of the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ, and the renewing grace of the Holy Spirit?

2. Do you claim God's covenant promises in her behalf, and do you look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ for her salvation, as you do for your own?

3. Do you now unreservedly dedicate your child to God, and promise, in humble reliance upon divine grace, that you will endeavor to set before her a godly example, that you will pray with and for her, that you will teach her the doctrines of our holy religion, and that you will strive, by all the means of God's appointment, to bring her up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?

I share these so that you, our close friends and family, can understand what we promised before the Lord and help us to teach Jonah about God and hold us accountable to these vows. It was such a wonderful opportunity to publicly dedicate his life to the Lord and acknowledge that he is His and not ours. My dad baptized him as have the grandfathers in our family for generations. The legacy of faith that has come before Jonah is deep and strong. He is blessed with a wealth of godly examples and people who love the Lord. It was such an emotional day for me to make this promise and realize what it meant when my parents did that for me and just how much effort and intentional work went into my growth and teaching about God.