Saved By Grace

Last August Lijee decided he was ready to get baptized. He knew he would get a grown up bible like Zeke and Daisy, which was part of the motivation. But he also knew he was ready to let the world know that Jesus is his savior.

We had to wait a long time for a children's baptism class. But the time finally arrived. He was proud to let us know that everyone (our family, Gramma & Grampa and Grannie) was at church just for him.

 This was the day Eli was 'going public.'

 Here is the pre-ceremony, where the kids were getting briefed on how it was going to go down.

 At the beginning the kiddos turned around to wave at everyone. This little girl named Avery was also in Lijee's kinder/1st grade class at school...goofballs.

 Before the actual baptisms, the candidates went to their individual families for prayer time.

 Each child was interviewed before hand, introducing themselves and adding whatever they wanted to add. Eli kept to the bare minimum. "My name is Eli and I'm 8 years old. I'm getting baptized to show the world I accepted Christ as my savior."

 Finally the moment arrived.

 He is agreeing that yes, he has asked Jesus to be his savior.

 Our church does total emersion to emulate Christ's death and resurrection; going under the water like  Jesus was in the tomb, then coming up again just as Jesus rose from the grave. Plus Jesus himself was immersed and if it worked for Jesus, it works for us!

 Done!

 One happy boy.

 Elijah got to choose where we went to eat. He opted for pancakes (even though it was the middle of the afternoon), so we went to IHOP.

Daisy was giving Grampa a run for his money when it came to teasing.

Finally I got everyone together to take a few pictures.

 His very own bible that he has been waiting and waiting for!

{This post is a week late. Eli has been making sure we read our bibles when I tuck them in. He asked, "Can I have the honors of getting my bible out of the box and putting it away?" He is enjoying highlighting some of my favorite passages that I suggest. Tonight he said, "That one speaks to me; I'll highlight it." Love him!}

 He adores his big brother.

 Giggles with Gramma.

 Gramma gave Lijee a cross from Uncle Steve. She had given one to Zeke and Daisy when they were baptized. I am so thankful that after he passed she thought ahead to save one for this moment. It makes my heart happy that Steve is still a part of Eli's special day.

Steve would be proud to know she did that.

Of course Grannie was there to celebrate with us.

 Their biggest spoilers.

 So glad Mom and Dad made it down here. It was a wonderful weekend.

 I always knew I wanted kids, but had no idea how much I would love them.

 DanFam5

 Our church believes that baptism is an outward sign of what has happened in your heart. Salvation is solely a gift from God, based not on works but God's grace and mercy. We are all sinners and can never be good enough on our own; if we were, there would be no need for Christ and his death and resurrection.
'For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.' Roman 6:3