You Did Not Choose Me

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other."~Jesus (John 15:16-17)

I introduced our family to the congregation (it's a small congregation, so we know most folks, but just in case)

We talked with her thoroughly about the happenings of the day, but I was shocked that she went willingly to Renee--she does not like to be in the spotlight in crowds or with strangers. Renee and her husband, James B. (on left), are our pastors. I told her that they were going to put water on her head because Jesus loves her so much. Later she said, "Mama, water on head. Jesus loves me."

notice the larger than life photo of her in the left corner...

 
Seeing this photo of Torin looking up at her in the corner reminds me of the boys' baptism. 

She was in heaven in her "Ethiopian princess" dress as she calls it. I bought it in Addis last year, not knowing it would be the perfect dress for this special occasion. Between my mother-in-law and I, we spent several hours altering the dress and reinforcing seams to fit and last through the day. She was absolutely gorgeous. She felt special. And the shoes? Well, those were icing on the cake. I bought the the night before the baptism and my dad was here to spend the night, and she ran over to him, "Grandpa. Look. Fancy shoes!!"

Her big brother was pretty proud of her too. I am not sure how much longer he'll be able to pick her up like this. Guesses?

She was baptized. My niece, Dahlia was baptized with her, as were our good friends' son and their niece. All of our friends and family were there to show their support. It was beautiful to see the kids together, all being ceremoniously shown how much He loved them first. Before they could even try to love Him back. That is why we chose the verse above as her baptism verse. Jesus loves her no matter what, and we pledged to make sure she always knows that.