Aria's Baptism

Well - we had a great day on the day Aria was baptized - we woke up at our usual time, and had plans to be at church at 10 (church starts at 10:30) in order to say hello to our friends etc who were there...we arrived at 10:32. We had along the baptismal gown us kids wore when we were baptized and we were going to put it on once we got to church (to avoid spit-ups if at all possible). It didn't fit!! Her head was too big for it - I guess two months of age is a little late to get baptized in our family's tradition (a side note: Aria is the first grandchild to get baptized, but that's beside the point). We had her in white for underneath the gown - so she just wore what she was wearing - a little white jumper with a white undershirt underneath. I also had her wrapped in my mom's shawl that she crocheted for her wedding - so that was really special for me and for those who know how much that shawl meant for my mom (she wore it to her 25th and 30th anniversary celebrations and it was on a table at her funeral with pictures & memorabilia on top of it).

So, we got into the service during the second or third song and sat up at the front - Dad & MaryAnna & the girls were in the row behind us, and Bec and Frank weren't there yet. When we got up for the baptism they still weren't there - so I was watching the door while William was talking. FINALLY they made it just before the actual baptism.

When William does baptisms, he really does it up - ever since our friends Pippa & Chris decided if their baby was going to get baptized (they came from a Pentecostal background) she was going to get baptized! Pippa dressed Anwen in a bathing suit - brought a bathtub for her to sit in and William dumped buckets of water on her - it was adorable. Since then, William has enjoyed REALLY baptizing all his babies - so when Aria got baptized, the water wasn't just a few little drops on the top of her head as some are, she got water poured on her from a jug - and it ended up all over her face & pooling in her eye sockets - and she totally took it like it was no big deal - she must like getting baptized! It was very cool.

After Aria was baptized I had a chance to say something - and so I started by explaining that since Brad & I come from two different traditions, him from dedication, me from baptism, that we both felt it was right to do both for Aria - we baptized her with our church family (since that's what we do at the Bridge) and with my dad & sister there, but we will dedicate her in Ontario at a later date with Brad's family (and of course all those in Ont. who want to when that time comes). Each day should be a day when we remind Aria that she is one of God's covenant children, and each day should be a day when we dedicate her to God - remembering that she is a gift from God - but that she is HIS, and not only mine. I then told those at church (and am now telling all of you reading this, as you are part of our lives) Aria means "A Solo Song, Sung with Passion, Accompanied by an Orchestra". Aria's life is her song - and our hope and prayer is that it will be sung with passion - and to our Father in Heaven. We are her orchestra - Brad & I as parents, but also our families and our friends - our church family and those who are close to Aria - we are the ones who are accompanying her through life, and our prayer is that each of you will also be a part of helping her to sing her song in worship for our Father.

We then had people come up and lay hands on us and pray for her and for us - my Father and William both took a time to pray - it was really special. I'm going to work on getting the CD of the service so that we can post it on the site.

Love you all - thank you for being part of the cacophony that our lives have been since our Aria arrived.

Deb