Baptism Day!

A couple weekends ago, we celebrated Mrs. BigKat, LilKat1, and PrincessKat's Baptism Day. Baptism Day is a special day when we celebrate the anniversaries of the baptisms in our family. Mrs. BigKat and LilKat1 were baptized on the same day when LilKat1 was 3 months old. PrincessKat was baptized last year when she was 9 months old. We actually planned out the Baptism Days to be close together on the calendar(mine and LilKat2's are right next to each other also, but in January), so that we could celebrate everyone's baptism at the same time.

For Baptism Day this year, I got Mrs. BigKat 2 Bible study guides as well as a new ESV (English Standard Version, it's the version used by her study guides and her current Bible is the NIV) Bible. LilKat1 received an activity Bible, a comic book style illustrated Bible (actually quite cool because it has the entire New Testament text in it, with chapter and verse numbers, but in comic book form). PrincessKat got a small prayer book and a stuffed lamb. We all had chocolate cupcakes with turquois frosting (LilKat1's choice) and sprinkles.

We've been celebrating Baptism Day ever since LilKat1's first Baptism anniversary. Mrs. BigKat and I are firm believers in infant baptism, so all of our children were baptised when they were tiny. I first heard about the idea of celebrating Baptism anniversaries in a book written by Tim Stafford, Knowing the Face of God. In a way, it's kind of like a birthday. Your birthday is the anniversary of when you were introduced into the world. Similarly, a Baptism Day is the anniversayr of the day you were introduced to the church. On birthdays, we celebrate the person and honor them. We let them know that they're a very special part of our lives. On Baptism Days, we celebrate the gift of faith that God has given us. It's very much a family celebration, and we use the time to recognize that our household is one that serves the Lord.

Mrs. BigKat and I were both baptized as adults. So we remember our baptisms and have very fond memories of them. Our kids, on the other hand have no memories of their own baptisms. This is one of the great things about Baptism Day. No one remembers their own birthday, but birthday celebrations are always very special. In the same way, even though our children don't actually remember their baptism, the day we celebrate it will always be special to them as well.

I don't think any of the other families that we know celebrate Baptism Day like we do. But I think it's a great idea. It highlights the importance of our baptism, and gives us a time to appreciate the gift of faith that God has given to our household.

And, we get to eat cupcakes!