the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds. Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized. – Acts 16:33

And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. – Colossians 2:6-7

Wow! What a roller-coaster of a weekend! So much love, and stress, and joy, and pain, and hope, and more. Here is the timeline:

• Thursday, 8:30 am: dad falls and goes to the hospital. All day in ER before being admitted. 7:00 pm: family arrives from Florida (we haven’t seen them in over a year).
• Friday, all day: my 65th birthday (back and forth from hospital).
• Saturday: 11:00 am: Baptism for Geoffrey followed by celebration lunch.
• Sunday morning: Palm Sunday, followed by Rose Garden memorial ceremonies. Sunday, late afternoon: Dad discharged from hospital. I bring him home and we do our best to get situated.
• Monday: Day with the grandchildren (yay!).
• Tuesday, 4:30 am: Grandchildren head home to Florida.

So I’m exhausted! More than that, I have amazing stories and photos to share. Let’s start with Saturday’s baptism.

Geoffrey gets baptized!

Rebekah made the gown for this generation. David was baptized by pastor Karl in Connecticut. Beks was baptized by Rebekah, also in Connecticut. In 2019, “Mr. T.” became the first baby baptized in the Anglican tradition in Dresden since before WW2 (pastor Ricky). Then, Saturday morning, Rebekah baptized Geoffrey in the sanctuary at Wake Forest Presbyterian Church. The gown has been places!

Elder Ed Pulliam, along with his wife, Kathy, represented Wake Forest Presbyterian Church. Newly ordained elder Tom McMahan (Providence Presbyterian Church in Virginia Beach), along with his son Micah, represented the greater family.

The ceremony was Rebekah’s standard baptism, featuring prayer, scripture, promises made both by parents and church, and lots of water.

Geoffrey was not too happy about the water, and made his voice known.

But what a beautiful moment. Covenant baptism.

• Here is a link to the baptism if you want to see….

Covenant:

Baptism is a sign of the New Covenant God made with his people (us) through Jesus. And, just like the original covenant, baptism represents something that has already been done. The covenant of baptism is not simply something that individuals choose to do, the covenant is something already done. As individuals, we either commit to living into the beauty of this covenantal relationship with God, or we walk away. Regardless, we are still baptized.

Here is my prayer for our latest grandchild, Geoffrey:

“I pray that the evidence of God’s love and light and grace and mercy will be so apparent in both the family (Naomi, Craig, David, Beks, Geoffrey) and the local faith community where he will continue to learn, that Geoffrey will be impatient to become confirmed, increasingly joyful in his growing relationship with Jesus, and always motivated to share God’s love in every way. Amen”

Enjoy these photos. We are a blessed family, and we are simply bursting with God’s light and joy – DEREK

photos in chronological order: