A few weeks ago at church on Sunday, the pastor was talking about some baptisms that would happen at the end of the service. My son looked up at my husband and I, and said, “I want to be baptized.” It was a very surreal moment, yet we felt it was a Holy Spirit led.
We took him out of the sanctuary, talked with him about why he wanted to and he shared his heart with us and how he loves Jesus and believes He died on the cross for us. It was a simple yet emotional testimony for him to tell us and the children’s director.
We are thrilled that he took a step towards obeying God and a huge step in the journey of being obedient to God’s directives for the rest of his life.
We knew it was time to celebrate, so we started by taking pictures and video of the baptism. After the day was over, I realized that I wished I had thought of a few things beforehand, and thought I could share about a heads up for my readers! Of course we can’t plan completely since we have no idea when that point in time will come, and we just trust in faith that it will be in our lifetime so we can help guide them and celebrate with them.
Here are my three tips.
- Celebrate. We had a special dinner with candles (because my kids love them!), party blowers (so glad I keep party leftovers of these on hand!), and a crown for my son to wear. We didn’t have special foods because we weren’t expecting it, but we made what we did have, special and unique! I honestly don’t even remember the meal I served that night.
- Write a card. I went through my stash of cards that I keep on hand and found one with a butterfly on it. Perfect! As I wrote in the card, I wanted to be really intentional with what I said. I used the butterfly analogy because I thought that was perfect for the start of his new journey in transforming into a son of God. I also searched on pinterest for ideas to help inspire me and found this great post. I used some of their ideas and some of my own to come up with this . . .
We will always celebrate today as the day you were obedient to sharing with everyone that you believe in Jesus Christ. As a caterpillar is transformed, so will God transform you into a beautiful butterfly throughout the rest of your life. It will take work on your part, and continued obedience, but we have seen Him start this process in you already. The Lord is pleased as He looks at your life! He sees your increasing spiritual maturity and efforts to please and live for Him. Joshua 1:9
- Give a gift. This was the one I really wish I would have been more prepared for, but God worked it out. I wanted to give him something to inspire his journey in getting to know God more. Something to help him form a good habit of how to maintain his close friendship with God. I would have liked to buy him a devotional unique to him, but I didn’t have time for that. Then, I remembered a daily one year kids devotional that my parents gave me which I still had stored away. It wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but it was all that was needed!I knew I hit it right on, when I gave him the gift and I was able to see his heart shine through his wide open eyes. His excitement was contagious and inspirational. He wanted to open it immediately and start reading right away!
My intention is to give him a card and a gift every year, journaling and marking his God journey. I want to be intentional about pointing out to him where we have seen him grow in his character, godliness and purity. Something he can look back on when he doubts and know that he is surely a son of God.
I would love for you to share how you have celebrated this special life event too.
