Wilson's Baptism.

On his first birthday, Wilson spent the morning at church cleansing his soul. How much cleansing does a one-year-old soul require? Well, not much. It was a happy affair, and we were very pleased to be joined for the occasion by three of Wilson's four sets of grandparents (notably Gigi and Grandude from Montana, shown here) and by his aunt Beth, cousin Alexis, and aunties Nellie and Katie (who drove all the way out from Pullman in a borrowed car to participate! WOW!) All together, we took up two pews.

I'm not really sure how baptisms work in other congregations (and I was just recently baptised myself, so it's all relatively new), but at Magnolia UCC the pastor drizzles water over the head. There was a lot of reading before and after that part, and some singing. Cathy (our pastor) even had the congregation, led by the choir, sing Wilson "Happy Birthday". I sobbed almost the entire time, which was painful for me, but some people told me afterward that it made the experience more meaningful for them. One woman said there wasn't a mom in the pews whose heart wasn't aching along with mine. That's cool, if my tears could enrich their Sunday experience, I'm glad for it.

We were reminded just how blessed we are by Wilson's sweet temperament during the affair. Like a very good baby, he was charming and sweet during the entire thing, even when Cathy took him from us and out into the congregation to interact with his "new family in Christ". He smiled and waved at everybody, and didn't seem to notice that Daddy and I were still stuck on the stage (poor Mommy in hiccups by then). Of course, after the baptism was over, he thought it would be fun to sing like the grown-ups, except he started singing during the sermon. So he had to leave, which was too bad because he was personally mentioned a few times in the message. (The speaking pastor, Tom, said he'd try his best not to make Wilson a "visual aid". Apparently he didn't try very hard.)

After church we visited with people and got to introduce our family around a little, which was nice. We're lucky that our church is small, so we know a lot of people, and everybody knows Wilson. We also received a gorgeous quilt as a gift from the church. We feel very loved and spoiled by those people. They are just so nice!

Combined with his birthday party in the afternoon, Sunday October 21, 2007 was a sparkling day for our family. Wilson's baptism really was the meaningful experience we hoped it would be, and we were so glad that so many of his family could be there to share in it and his birthday party.

Coming soon: Wilson's trick-or-treat!