Catching-up on catching up...

Friends and family, I'm sorry we are so far behind in our updates.  Partly, things are busy with a little nearly-6-month-old at home, but also partly, we've been back and forth visiting family so much since Easter, it seems like the main people who need updating have been updated!

In the beginning of June, our pastor baptized Levi Jonathan into the covenant community at McLean Presbyterian.  It was an enormous blessing, especially to have most of our family there as witnesses.

Levi's face is not a look of glee…when James turned to him, he actually started to cry!  Thankfully, James, veteran father of 4, didn't flinch.

Infant baptism is a new thing for us, since we both grew up and were baptized as believers.  We spent time in prayer and study, considering what the Lord would have us do.  R.C. Sproul, in a debate of sorts with John MacArthur, had this to say (which helped me to better understand infant baptism):

"In the Old Testament, circumcision does not convey redemption; its the sign of redemption.  In the New Testament, baptism doesn't convey redemption; and its a sign of many things.  It is a sign of our cleansing.  It is a sign of our regeneration.  It is a sign of our sanctification.  It is a sign of our being baptized with the Holy Spirit, and… it is a sign of our being buried with Christ and raised with Christ.  It is a sign of all of those things that are part of the content of salvation, which sign does not automatically communicate the reality by the outward sign. What it does communicate is the reality of the promise of God to all who put their trust in Him, that they would receive the fullness of redemption that is promised in the gospel.  In a word, the sacrament of baptism is a dramatic object lesson, a visible sign of the spoken promise."

(You can listen to the debate, 2 parts, here.)

More updates to come later…thank you for your patience!