Priscilla’s Baptism Day

We recently celebrated Priscilla’s baptism.

I’ve been writing this post in my head for a while, patiently waiting for a moment when I could punch it out on the keyboard.

Lately, I’ve felt like life is often a series of choices and decisions, often made with specific things in mind. Deciding to have our daughter baptized was one of those choices:

Both Seth and I were baptized as infants. We were raised in liturgical faiths (Lutheran and Catholic, respectively), but now attend my home church— Calvary Baptist, which does not baptize infants.

I am many things, but not a theologian. I do know there’s scriptural evidence for both infant baptism and dedication. I recognize that it’s something that carries strong feelings and views across various denominations.

We made this choice for our daughter because we wanted to honor our parents, family, and history. Babies in both of our families have been baptized. I think tradition can be very God-honoring.

Since our church doesn’t baptize infants, we had a family friend of my dad’s, a Catholic priest, Father John-Paul, baptize Priscilla at our home. This turned out to be a lovely, intimate, and meaningful event.

In my mind, the spirit of baptism and dedication for infants is quite similar. You’re pledging before God and your community to raise your child to know Jesus. That is a large undertaking, and one that I am sure we will need help with. Thankfully, we chose some incredible God parents:

Courtney is my dearest friend who has a faith that I admire. She is someone who has prayed with me, for me, and held onto hope and joy when I could not. Her testimony is one that inspires me, and her faith walk is really lovely.

Simon is one of Seth’s dearest childhood friends. Honestly, within minutes of meeting him last winter, I knew he would be the perfect God father for our baby. I was barely pregnant at the time, but strongly knew he would be the right choice. I didn’t want to force Seth, but hoped in my heart that he’d picked Simon.

When Seth ran the Black Hills 100 this summer Simon joined him and paced for several miles. At the first aid station where they came in together, Seth walked up to me and said, “Simon is Priscilla’s God father.” I was overjoyed!

We also had several family members come from far away to be present: my grandma Dorothy and Aunt Barbara flew in, and Seth’s parents drove up from Worthington.

My other best friend, Mara, graciously offered to take photos. She is always so generous with us regarding photography. I will cherish these images for years to come.

Putting together the details for Priscilla’s big day was so much fun. I would have loved to do a homemade cake, but Wuollet Bakery came through. Those petit fours were DIVINE. The letter board Maggie gave me was the perfect decoration. Simon’s sweet friend Keely encouraged us to open up their gift before guests arrived— and she was right. The monogramed lovey and personalized cross were great additions to my simple decor of flowers.

I did have a blanket made for Priscilla, and I’m so glad I did, thank you Etsy. She wore the very same dress that I was baptized in in 1987, and that my mom sewed.