A few weekend ago when John and I were in Humboldt we were also able to attend Chloe and Allie’s (the twins) baptisms! What a treat! Well needless to say we weren’t THAT excited when we learned we had to be at church at 8:30am! John asked if we could show up at 9:30am for the baptism, and his mom said that would be tacky. Why must we be so tactful?
I will not state how long it had been since I had been to a regular (non holiday) church service, but the last one I went to I did not enjoy. However I thought this service was very good! I only zoned out a few times, but I really enjoyed it, and all of the singing. I’m sure most of the people were wondering who that Methodist was in the back singing off key!
Right when the first song started John told me to turn they hymnbook to page 398. So I did… where the heck was the song? I had no idea that the 398 was the hymn reference! Doh! Man am I a rookie or what? The Father also chanted The Lord’s Prayer, which I had never heard before. I was so excited that we had finally come to something I knew, and then I couldn’t even keep the tempo! Geesh! Allison (mother-in-law) totally impressed me though. She knew all sorts of songs, (not in the hymnbook), that were sung. I guess once I’m married to a Grundman for 30 years I’ll have it down.
One difference between the Catholic Church and Methodist Church is that kids are supposed to stay through the whole sermon. As a Methodist, the kids head off to Sunday School after the first few minutes. All four kids were unbelievably good during the sermon. I was so impressed. However I do think Jay’s words of advice, (before entering the church), helped: “You are entering God’s house. NO loud voices!”
John’s cousin Fred and his family, (Shan - wife, Sage - daughter, and Kyle – son), also showed up for the service. Kyle is about 2 and was making normal two-year-old sounds when Bowie turned around and said “Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Kyle! We are in church!” It was too funny! Most people would, at this point reference that old saying. How does it go? Oh yeah, the pot calling the kettle black.
After the service we then got ready for the baptism. Right before the father started the ceremony, Sarah looks at me and says “Amber! You are Allie’s godmother! Get up here!” I was in total shock! So I rushed up to the front pew with Jay, Sarah, Maddy, Bow, Sage, John, the twins, and Jenny (Chloe’s godmother and who we thought was the godmother of both twins). It was a tight fit!
Let me backtrack a bit. So about 6 months ago John’s sister Sarah had mentioned to him that John and I would be godparents to one of the twins. SWEET!!! I was SO exited, as I had always wanted to be a godmother to one of the kids. However we were told that the godmother of a girl had to be catholic and the godfather of a boy had to be catholic. Well it looked like things had changed w/ the new father taking over.
A few months before the baptism John talks to Sarah again, and then relays the message that I will not be the godmother because I was not catholic. What the heck? I was totally bummed. Oh well. But it seems that Sarah was just teasing John? Not sure… something major was lost in communication, and all I know is that I was totally left out of the loop! But it was such a great surprise to be Allie’s godmother! What an honor!
The kids were a tad bit more restless during this second hour than the first. Bowie decided to interject his observations by shouting “JESUS!” and “GOD!” at two separate occasions, while the father was speaking.
He also asked Sage “Are you afraid of T-rexes?”
“Yes,” Sage replied.
“I’m not,” said Bowie. So tough.
Near the end of the ceremony, John and Jay lit candles for the twins that they will use on their first communions. From the side, Maddy and Bowie were trying their hardest to blow them out. It was one laugh after another I tell ya!
Then to top it off, right as we were finishing, Maddy stuck her nose into one of the flower arrangements and here was the result:
One last family photo before we left:
After we headed over to John’s parents house for a great lunch. It was quite entertaining as you can imagine. Here are the girls and their mom w/ a cool cupcake cake.
As godparents of Allie and Chloe (for John) it is our duty to make sure she attends church every Sunday and is brought up with God in her life.
"Suck it Satan!" Quoteth the godparents.
2 comments:
Okay Godparents! Time to lead by example!
Wow, what an experience. I'm pretty impressed you could sit through not only a whole service but it sounds like the baptism was another separate hour! I've only been to catholic church a few times with relatives and you're right, it's pretty different than protestant churches. Jay and I are our 1st niece's godparents and it's hard to "know what to do", especially now that we're out of state. Good luck!
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