Thursday, August 13, 2009

good news!

Don't worry, Jess and Tara, the July photos will come. :) But I'm going to go out of order a bit to cover the more important blog post first!

On August 9, we had Natalie's dedication service. It had been planned far in advance, and it was going to take place at our annual potluck and baptism service. My parents were planning to attend, and it even worked out that Nelson's parents could be there.

The day before the event, Sarah heard us talking about the baptisms that would take place in addition to the baby dedications. She was immediately interested, saying she would like to be baptized. I told her baptism wasn't something we did for fun or because we wanted to get in the water or anything; it meant something--something important. And we went on to talk about sin and punishment and Jesus' death paying for our sins and forgiveness and new life. We talked about how Jesus would live in her heart and help her to obey Him.

Sarah insisted she understood. And she prayed to God about all of the above. I told her we would need to talk with the pastor on Sunday morning. He would have the final say as to whether she was "ready" to be baptized or not.

Sunday morning Sarah told our pastor that she wanted to be baptized. He asked her why, and she responded, " Because Jesus has been working on my heart!" He talked with her alone for quite awhile, and when they were finished, Bobby said that Sarah was absolutely ready for baptism and would be a participant in the evening's service! :)

If Sarah had wanted, Nelson could have baptized her, but she opted for Bobby to do it. Nelson took video of the event, which I will *try* to upload in the next post.

But in a time that has been all around discouraging, this was the best possible ray of hope! In the grand scheme of life and eternity, this is far more important than jobs or whatever. :) So we are praising God for working on Sarah's heart, even so young! :)

And Natalie has not been forgotten. We have pictures of her dedication as well. :) And we pray that God will work on her heart even from an early age too!


Before the dedication service...Natalie hanging with Grandma...




Natalie being dedicated...(we were outside at a local park, if you are wondering about the casual attire...)




Baptism pics (and hopefully video!) to come!

5 comments:

Jess said...

yeah!

everything becomes clearer when these things happen...ohhh!!!

this - THIS - is what really matters.

congratulations (is that ok to say??)

love
jess

Unknown said...

Lol. Well, congratulations does sound kind of funny, since I didn't earn it and neither did she...but I know what you mean, and I don't know what else would convey what you mean, so congratulations works. :)

Tara said...

I love it! This is awesome!! Good, GREAT news indeed!

Lauri Dilbeck said...

Casual Attire? That's our Sunday morning best!

What a wonderful thing to have your children follow Christ. So right, it really is more important than anything else Christ entrusts to us. And to have both sets of parents there--what a blessing! I was bawling my eyes out reading about Sarah!

God bless your little family Karen and Nelson. Thank you for being obedient to the Savior and raising them in His word!

Rodriguez family said...

Praise the Lord!