Sofia and Lilian's Birthday/Baptism

Knorretje with both girls' hairbows. Sweet! :)

Opa Piet en Oma Lina

Boefje, Opa, Josh w. Lilian, Knorrie, Oma Lina with Sofia

Oma Becky, Opa Poppy and Jordan

Sofia and Lilian with cousins Gabe and Hayden

10 July, 2011. The girls turned 8 on this day! EIGHT!!!!!! And they were not only excited about their birthday, but also about their baptism! In our church, we believe that children don't need to be baptized until they are accountable for their actions, such that they get to be baptized from 8 years up. The girls really wanted to try to do this on their birthday, which was possible! They were interviewed by someone from the bishopric, to see if they were ready adn understood the covenants/commitments they were about to make, and they seemed to be. We were (are) so excited and proud of them for this choice, as we know the blessings adn happiness it will bring to them to try to follow Jesus, and to be able to have the Holy Ghost as a constant companion to help them make good choices.

We ofcourse celebrated their birthday after church, then prepared for the baptism. Josh explained to them (again) how he would immerse them under water completely, and what the symbolism of it all means. I told them my experience of being baptized (also by Josh) only 15 years ago, and the special feeling I had when I received the Gift of the Holy Ghost.

We had a lot of special people come to join us in this celebration, and a special program to make this event memorable for them. The girls sang : "I like to look for rainbows' (or the real title is "When I am baptized'"), and I was honored to give a talk on baptism (Mosiah 18:8-10), and Oma Becky on the Holy Ghost. We both pointed out how special the girls are, as both of them LOVE people, how Sofia loves to testify of Christ, how Lilian likes to bear other people's burdens, ...etc, and what an amazing opportunity they have to be able to have the Holy Ghost with them to guide and comfort them.

The girls dressed in their white uniforms, adn as Sofia is the oldest, she got to be baptized first by Josh. He was a little nervous I think, such that he forgot to call her name in the baptismal prayer and had to do it again! (He had to'baptize' me twice too, different reason, but still funny). She came out of that water even more beautiful and pure than ever. Then Lilian was baptized by Josh as well, and she too looked more beautiful and clean than ever. It was a very touching moment for me to see each of these miraculous Heavenly Princesses make this choice and partake of this special ordinance. Feelings of joy, pride, gratitude, love, .... too many good emotions to express.

After they returned in their dresses (with white barettes handmade by their aunt Patty!!), they received the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, with each a personal prayer. I couldn't be more happy for and proud of them. And what a special Gift they received, a Gift for life, priceless.

Oma Becky had 'Bee bags' for them: Bee smart, bee clean, bee true, be prayerful, bee grateful and bee humble (not in order). What a perfect gift to give. The girls got their own scriptures, with their names imprinted, of which they were very proud, and my mom gave them a book called ' Daughter of  a King' which really was a beautiful fictional story of how we believe we can look forward to live with our families and Heavenly Father (the King) again.

It was such a unique event for me, as a mother, and to be able to share that with family adn friends, especially with my parents made this day in one word: PERFECT!

Thank you all so much for being there with us! Thank you opa Pizza and oma Lina, for changing your normal summer schedule to be here with us for the girls' baptism. Kusjes


Pictures to come