The Years Are Short: K's Baptism

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

K's Baptism

This past Sunday we had K baptized. She wore the gown that my great grandmother made for my mom, and that E wore for her baptism as well. It was a wonderful day with family and friends as we celebrated God's promises for her. We had a party after church where we invited everyone back to our place for lunch. We were so thankful that we had some special guests from far away who were able to celebrate with us. My brother Andrew, and his wife Erin were visiting from Chicago. My sister Katherine, her husband Rusty and their two kids drove up from Virginia. And the Landis family who live overseas were also able to come. It just made the day extra special to have them all come.

Another reason it was neat to have the Landises there was because we had decided to copy something that they did for all their boys for K. A few years ago we went to a birthday party for their oldest son. Before we sang "happy birthday" we sang "his" hymn. Apparently George and Mardel picked out a hymn for each of their boys to sing on their birthdays. I always thought that was a neat idea, but at that point E and N were already 1 and 4, and I thought it was "too late". But once K was born, the idea came back to me, and I thought we could sing a song at her baptism party, and then at the other kids' next birthdays introduce their songs as well. So a few weeks ago Ed and I looked through the hymnbook for a song we wanted to dedicate to Ka. We wanted something to do with "love" since her name means "beloved", and we wanted the song to express God's love for her, and/or the love we hoped one day she would have for Him. I think we found the perfect hymn, and one day, I hope she claims these words for her own, and it becomes her prayer:

My Jesus, I Love Thee

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.

I love Thee, because Thou hast first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree,
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I’ll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I’ll sing with the glittering crown on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.

Here are some pictures of the day:

Kaelin and Ellie before church