Baptism

As an extension of Owen's Birthday weekend, he was baptized at Cascade Covenant Church on July 6th. Pastor Scott did a great job of making it a special event. We're such a small church, that every baptism, dedication, or other special event gets full attention. Scott (dad) lead worship that day, both our families were there, and we got to personalize the ceremony to our own family.
The verse we chose for Owen was Psalm 63:1-4. "O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, an in your name I will lift up my hands." (NIV) It is our hope that Owen would grow to live into those words and seek the Lord for himself.


Getting baptized. In the Convenant church, we will do either infant or believer baptism, depending on what the family desires. As Pastor Scott explained, believer baptism looks backward at what God has done and the choices a person has already made. Infant baptism looks forward to a time when the child will make their own choice to follow the lord.


Our church has this great tradition after infant dedications or baptisms. Pastor Scott carries the child around and everyone puts out their hand in prayer for the little one. We also let all the kids come sit in front to get a great view of the baptism. Owen did great being carried around. The song we chose for this time was "Hope for Morning" by Christopher Williams. The same song that Scott sang at our wedding. Great words of our promise to one another, our promise to Owen as his parents, and God's promise to us as his people: "I promise you that I will always love you the same...let my gentle spirit give you the wings to soar..."


This event was more emotional that either of us expected. Scott and I, and many at church, shed some tears. We are so blessed to be raising Owen in this caring community.