Baptism

Today was a big day for us! Sweet Caroline was baptized. At first, when I called the church to schedule Caroline for her baptism, I just did it as a ritual that our families do. We have a baptism gown in my family that is over 100 years old, we just baptize babies. Yes, I knew it was a big deal but I didn't have time to worry about it being a big deal. I even asked Web this morning if he was nervous, because we had to get in front of a congregation with Caroline by ourselves. Web's response? "Well we stood in front of over 200 people at our wedding for an hour, so this isn't a big deal!" But I think we can both admit that once we got to the church, we realized what a big deal it really was. Baptism is defined via the Wiki as by which a person is admitted to membership of the Christian Church. HUGE. As Web and I were giving Caroline a bath tonight, we both looked at each other and admitted that we just felt different. Almost that she is even more official. Not only is she protected by us for the rest of our lives, but GOD is now watching her as well in a more official manner. Not that he wasn't always watching over her, but now it just feels different. Like a little bit of weight is off our shoulders and we can rest a little easier. Now do not get me wrong. I will continue to worry about her, but as I said her prayers with her tonight I felt a calming relief. After I said our prayers, and her middle of the night bottle was empty, I just held her and continued to rock her. (I will never get her to sleep on her own!!) I said a little extra prayer for my dad tonight as well. Tuesday dad has open heart surgery. And as we are all very excited that he is about to get a new start on life healthwise, I can't help but be a little scared. It's not everyday that your dad of almost 35 years goes under the knife, gets his chest cracked open, turns his heart off for an hour, re-route some veins, and voila! Needless to say I asked GOD to please watch over him so he can continue to watch Caroline grow. I wanted nothing more today than my dad to just hold Caroline. I think he is the only grandparent that I took multiple pictures of today holding her. I wanted to have those memories in my head forever. As I was saying my extra prayer to GOD tonight, I started thinking about baptisms and how life goes full circle. Here is a sweet 4 month old getting baptized and admitted to GODs church, and a 62 year old man that is doing everything he possibly can to prevent joining GOD up above. Kind of ironic, 2 different prayers, but 2 special people.
I know that dad isn't going anywhere. The odds are definitely in his favor, but if you all could please say a quick little prayer or shout out to GOD about him I would truly appreciate it. I know he would as well!