Take months of rescheduling, one clearly flustered Father Sylverstad, and one overtired baby girl and you have a baptism off to a rough start. At times I thought maybe God was trying to deter me. Maybe this is not the right thing to do, I thought. But why would God not want to welcome one of his children into his arms?
No, there was something else at work here.
In the end there was a message for me, though not the one I feared as I encountered resistance along the way: It takes perseverance to overcome adversity. When we truly want something, and keep at it though, our efforts are rewarded a hundred-fold.
One hundred times the doubt is the JOY I was rewarded with.
We couldn't have asked for a more intimate and wonderful ceremony. Ours was the first baptism Father Raphael Mary performed and we feel honored to have had this special privilege. It was a little bit of a trial by fire for the novice priest because our dear Penelope voiced her discontent through much of it. However, after her immersion when she was presented in her baptismal garment, it was as if God had reached out a hand to calm her. For this reason I especially like the picture in which it seems that the Light of God is swirling around us (realistically the effect is due to user error, but suspend your disbelief for just a moment to appreciate the beauty).
Our dear neighbor Diana agreed to be Pepper's Godmother, and we are so blessed to welcome this wonderful woman into our family. Our little girl is also lucky to have two Godfathers - Jed's brother Eli, and our close friend Ben.
My heart nearly burst with all the love and blessings bestowed on us. It was a gloriously happy day!
She is just too precious! I love the pic of Wyatt holding her garmet, he looks so proud.
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