God's Child

This past Sunday Sarah was baptized. Our pastor, Dr. Klump, allowed a special ceremony just for Sarah because we will be moving before the next scheduled baptism in May and she was too brand new at the last one in February. We are so thankful to everyone for accommodating our family so that we could have her baptized with the church family we have grown to love here in Michigan. During the ceremony Dr. Klump mentioned our upcoming move and stated that they will always be our family. It was very moving and means so much to us as we are so far away from our family and about to go even further away.

Here is the letter written to Sarah in honor of her baptism:

March 11, 2007

Dear Sarah Elizabeth,

Today Mommy, Daddy, Big Brother Nathan and Big Sister Hannah were so thrilled to stand in front of our church family at Plymouth First United Methodist Church and welcome you into God's family. Because we are getting ready to move so far away, the rest of your family couldn't be here on such short notice, but they were all thinking about you and praying for you today. We are all so proud of you and excited for you to be a part of God's family. All of us want to share God's love with you. We promise to share with you all that we have learned about God and His church and His word. Your brother and sister will be amazing witnesses to you as they are to us. We know we will be blessed by what you will witness to us as well.

We are so proud of you today and so amazed that God has allowed us to be your family. We love you so very much and want you to know how much God loves you too. It is very important to all of us that you grow up knowing about God's love and we want to nourish your faith throughout your life so that when you are able to decide on your own who to lean on, that you lean on God. We know that as much as you learn from us, we will learn so much more by watching you grow in your faith as you grow.

Today is a very important day in your walk with God and though you won't remember it, we hope this letter helps you to understand how important today is and how important you are to us and God.

We love you and are blessed to know you and share your life.

In Him,

Mommy, Daddy, Nathan and Hannah