Baptism

Hudson and Belachew were baptized this weekend. We were told that Belachew was baptized as an infant in Ethiopia, according to the tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church (male infants are baptized at 40 days, females at 80 days). So for Belachew, our church recognized his baptism and we took vows, as parents and as a congregation. Hudson was baptized with water and the same vows were taken by us as his parents and by our congregation.

Paul was able to perform the baptism and it was full of emotion. We were reminded of the great responsibility and privilege we have of raising these boys. As Paul shared about the boys' names and their meanings, we were reminded of the birthfamilies who gave our boys life. We are so thankful for the great gift of these boys, but also know that this behind this gift there is loss and sadness. We were also reminded of our great love for our boys and the joys and struggles of their journey to become a part of our family, and that God's love for them is even greater and He has gone even farther to bring them into His eternal family.

We were blessed to have family come in from out of town to share this special day with us.