On Sunday Meredith was baptized.

So many thoughts and feelings and moments and difficulties led up to this day. Although I myself was baptized as a child, most of my life was spent in a tradition that doesn’t baptize infants but only dedicates them. That is surely what I would have done with Meredith had our church not dissolved at the time of her birth. Instead we found ourselves without any kind of spiritual dedication for her.

After a year and a half we finally found ourselves in a church home that we wanted to commit to, and I knew that it was time to include Meredith in that. The church we go to now does baby dedications as well as baptisms depending on the parents’ preference.

I thought long and hard about it, prayed, talked to my husband, my pastor, and a good friend/spiritual adviser, and in the end we decided to baptize Meredith. What it comes down to is that I now see baptism as more of an induction into the church. Without getting too deep into theology, I see it as a sign of God’s “yes” to Meredith, of our commitment to raising her in the church and our church’s commitment to helping us. It’s a more formal step showing that everything possible is being done to lead her into the Christian faith. It’s our hope and prayer to see her one day say “yes” back to God.

If you don’t have time to watch the six-and-a-half minute long video, you’re just missing a little mini-sermon, some crying on Meredith’s part and some desperate soothing on my part, and then a lovely moment of calmness when the baptism happened. Both David’s and my entire family were there and it was just really good.

Welcome to the Church, Meredith. We’re not perfect, we mess up, we get on each other’s nerves, we get angry and sad, but we love. We love each other, and we love you. That love is only a shadow of God’s love for us, and it is my deepest hope that one day you will love Him back.