Lily’s Baptism
Lily was baptized on Sunday morning, May 18, 2025, at Grace Community Church. She was nine weeks old, and the lilacs were blooming all along the church walk.
She wore the christening gown my mother sewed by hand for my baptism in 1994. It has a long white skirt, tiny pearl buttons, and lace from Mom’s own wedding dress. Getting a wiggly baby into lace that old took two grandmothers, one mother, and a lot of patience.
Aunt Emily and Uncle Dave stood up front with us as Lily’s godparents. Dave had practiced holding her all week, and he did beautifully. Emily cried before Pastor Dan even said a word.
Lily was perfectly calm until the water touched her head. Then she let out one loud, very offended squawk. The whole church laughed, and Pastor Dan smiled and said, “Good lungs. We’ll save her a spot in the choir.”
Then he carried her down the aisle so her church family could see her, and he spoke the old blessing over her. Michael squeezed my hand so hard it hurt a little. I didn’t mind one bit.
We gave her to God that morning, knowing He already held her. We just wanted everyone to hear us say it out loud.
The Christening Gown, by Grandma Ruth
I sewed that little gown at my kitchen table in the spring of 1994, for Sarah’s baptism. I cut the lace from my own wedding dress. Joe thought I’d lost my mind. I told him a dress is meant to be worn, not kept in a box.
Three years later, Emily wore it too. After each baptism, I wrapped the gown in white tissue paper and laid it in my cedar chest. Every few years I took it out, just to look at it, and wondered whose baby would wear it next.
The week before Lily’s baptism, I pressed it on the lowest setting, holding my breath the whole time. Inside the hem, in blue thread, it says “Sarah 1994” and “Emily 1997.” Right underneath, I stitched “Lily 2025” in pink.
When Sarah put Lily in my arms in that gown on Sunday, my hands shook. Thirty-one years went by in a blink.
There is plenty of room left on that hem. I pray it gets filled up, one baby at a time, long after I’m gone.
— Grandma Ruth
From Dad's Notebook
May 18. Up at 5:30. Couldn’t sleep. Ironed my good shirt twice.
Dave called at 7 to ask, one more time, which arm goes under her head. I told him the same arm as last night. He laughed, but I could tell he was nervous. So was I.
The sun came through the side windows right when Pastor Dan poured the water. I noticed because I’m always noticing how light falls across wood. That old pulpit is walnut, I think. Lily yelled. I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time, so I did a little of both.
Finished the keepsake box last night. Cherry, with a sliding lid and her name carved inside. Her baptism candle and the card from Pastor Dan go in it. The gown goes back to Grandma Ruth’s cedar chest. That was the deal. Someday, Lord willing, Lily will open this box and show her own children.
Prayer for tonight: Lord, make me the kind of father who points her to You. Thank You for trusting us with her.
The Blessing
As Pastor Dan walked Lily down the aisle, he spoke these words over her. Grandma Ruth says they are the same words she heard at my baptism, and at Emily’s.
“The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”
Numbers 6:24-26
Afterward we all went back to Grandma Ruth’s house for ham, potato salad, and three kinds of pie, eaten out on the porch in the sunshine. Uncle Dave, very proud of his new job, would not let anyone else hold his goddaughter until the food was ready, and then only for a minute.
Then Grandpa Joe rocked Lily on the porch swing and sang “Amazing Grace,” low and slow, all the way through. “It’s her song now,” he said. She fell asleep before the last verse, and nobody wanted to be the one to move.