Last week we got baptized as a family together in Jamie’s parent’s yard on our five year wedding anniversary weekend. It was the perfect day and more than we could have imagined.

Getting the boys baptized has been on our to-do list now going on four years. However, it never felt like the right time to do it until now. And we never wanted to make it feel like it was something we had “to-do” just to cross it off our list. We wanted it to feel right. Right time in our life, the right person baptizing them, and the right place. And I guess it just never felt right until now.

Since Jamie and I began dating, we’ve dabbled in different churches.

Jamie and I were both raised Christians, but in different denominational churches.

During college, I started going to a non-denominational church. Once I met Jamie and he went to the first service with me, he said, it was a little too much for him. Haha! That church may have been over the top, looking back. So we started checking out different churches together, until we landed on one we both believed in and one that felt right.

In the five years we’ve been married, we’ve moved into three different homes and cities, so we’ve always church hopped. But now that we’re in our forever home, we decided it was time to find our church and get our family dedicated.

The thought of getting baptized as a family wasn’t something that had actually been on our minds. Then as we started talking and thinking about each of our faith journeys and our testimonies, the idea of getting baptized as a family felt natural.

It only felt fitting, since for the first time we are choosing the faith we want to believe, the church we want to go to and raising our family in.. together as husband and wife and for our family. We wanted to make this commitment as a family to God and ourselves that we promise to walk in this new light together as a family forever.

My friend, Mitch, baptized us. He’s actually my childhood best friend’s brother and recently moved to Wisconsin. The only place Jamie wanted to get baptized was in his parent’s yard because this yard is such a special place, not only to us, but our boys.

We hold so many unforgettable family memories right here in this pond. So we were so thankful and honored when Mitch said yes to make the drive over, and Jamie’s parents said yes to letting us hold this in their yard. The timing couldn’t have been more fitting. Five years prior we had our family and friends over to celebrate our wedding, and here we were five years later getting baptized as a family together, we didn’t even plan that. God’s funny like that!

Mitch did such a cool and real service. In front of our immediate family and a few close friends, we made our promise. My favorite thing was that he made each of them say yes, to be our support system. It’s not just up to the Godparents and us, and it’s not about the title, it’s about the promise they’re giving too. They are promising to be there for each of us, forever. He also explained the story behind Jesus getting baptized in the river by John and why it’s important for us to make this same commitment and what it means for us.

He then had everyone place their hands on the four of us and say a powerful prayer over us and our family. The power of prayer is a pretty crazy thing!