Marked as One of Christ's Own Forever

I love this line that is a standard at the end of baptisms in the Episcopal church. I am a little behind in posting this, but Brendan was baptized on November 1st which is All Saint's Day. We had many family and friends in attendance and I was overjoyed to share the special day in the spiritual life our of son with those we love. Our priest, Father Crary, mentioned Brendan several times during the homily, which focused on how we can all be saints in our daily lives. We are all familiar with "the big saints" but he reminded all of us that there are millions of saints who were just ordinary people who lived simple, good and Godly lives. We sang the same hymn that was sung at my own baptism, "I Sing a Song of the Saints of God". It is one of my favorite hymns ever. It is written for children and I just love singing it. When the priest was pouring the water over Brendan's head I got teary and just felt so overwhelmed by God's love and grace. I got goosebumps thinking about what was happening at that very moment. Brendan's godparents were chosen because we knew that these people love us and love him deeply and will help us raise him to know God. We chose my cousins Donna and Jamie Sharp and two of our closest friends, Kelli Merrill and George Flint. After the ceremony, we celebrated the occasion with a very casual BBQ lunch at our house complete with a cake, beer and a little college football. Our family, friends and neighbors presented Brendan with beautiful and thoughtful gifts including books, picture frames and crosses for his room. Overall, I would say it was a wonderful morning!


The proud Godparents and the newly baptized baby Brendan!



A family shot, sans James, who just couldn't cooperate enough for a family photo. Gotta love toddlers!



Nana and Granddaddy with Brendan. I like how Brendan is giving a little wink here! He is saying "Thank you Nana and Granddaddy for buying me this beautiful heirloom baptismal outfit that I can pass down to my sons!".



The cute and tasty cake we chowed down on after the yummiest BBQ.