A Beautiful and Magnificent Gift

"Baptism is God's most beautiful and magnificent gift. . . .We call it gift, grace, anointing, enlightenment, garment of immortality, bath of rebirth, seal, and most precious gift. It is called gift because it is conferred on those who bring nothing of their own; grace since it is given even to the guilty; Baptism because sin is buried in the water; anointing for it is priestly and royal as are those who are anointed; enlightenment because it radiates light; clothing since it veils our shame; bath because it washes; and seal as it is our guard and the sign of God's Lordship."       -St. Gregory Of Nazianzus, 4th Century AD

Such a great day was had on the day our little Linus was baptized! Filled with gift, grace, and all the other wonderful aspects of the sacrament of baptism.

To start, we were blessed to have family come join the wonderful and exciting time in our sweet son's life. This moment starts an amazing journey and we are so happy they came to celebrate it.

Papa Wooley and Nonna

Papa Ram, Nana, and Uncle Godfather

Our little family had so much to celebrate! We are so blessed to be able to call our church, home. And, not only are we blessed to call it home, but we get to share this beautiful home with our boys.

Our little family. Seph had just woken from his nap, so the little guy was a little out of it.

The lovely picture below is of our sweet Linus and his Godparents! We are so blessed to have this beautiful couple as our little one's Godparents. They are friends that we love so much. Friends that have been Christ to us in so many ways. Their beautiful faith lives have been encouraging to us and always filled with such love. We are so grateful that they will play a special role in the faith journey that lies ahead of our sweet Eli.

Godparents!

Eli and his Godfather.

Eli and his Godmother.

Throughout our lives, there are moments that we experience that are filled with so much goodness they are hard to capture into words. These moments are filled with love and sweetness. They are light and easy. There is a Presence that brings a peace that is so gentle and full. The moments captured below in photo are definitely a few of those moments. 

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"But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient from the heart to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted." -Romans 6: 17

Sweet Eli was looking at his Godparents and smiling as the Deacon poured the water over his head.

"Jesus replied: In all truth I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born through water and the Spirit." -John 3: 5

Our little one getting anointed - receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit! ...kind of a big deal.

"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” Matthew 28: 19-20

Dada and his boy.

"He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved..." -Mark 16: 15-16

Mama and her baby.

"...that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like lights in the world."                    -Philippians 2:15

Dada, Mama, and our sweet Eli.

"That is what some of you used to be; but now you have had yourselves washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." 1 Corinthians 6:11

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So very thankful for the beautiful sacrament that truly is a magnificent gift; and for the awesome celebration that followed. All in all, a good day that we will always treasure.

For all that could not be present, thank you for the many prayers and generous gifts! You were missed but your presence was felt in the grace we experienced throughout the day.