August's Baptism

Our boy was baptised today! For those who missed it, here's the testimony I gave:


Kristen and I were both raised in Christian homes. Our parents taught us the Bible and lived out their faith, and we were both brought to church consistently for worship and Sunday school. We’re very thankful for that gift from our parents, and we’re also thankful that our family could be here with us today, for August.

I believed in Jesus when I was very young. I remember praying in bed and thanking God for everything I could remember. As I got older, at several points, I remember having to take a stand for Jesus and committing to obey Him. One of those points was my own baptism, when I was about 13.

I learned to trust God more deeply, starting in college, when I was on my own, away from home, learning about school and schedules and bills, and God was faithful then.

Kristen and I met in college. The story is that I noticed that she had a Bible on her desk, and I asked her about it, and that’s how we met.

Since we’ve been married, we’ve learned to trust God together: learning about work and, again, about schedules and bills. We’ve seen him provide for our needs every year.

The most challenging times have been the past several years, hoping and praying for a family and wondering why it was taking so long. We’re now thankful to know that the time spent waiting was so that we would be all lined up to meet and receive August. We’ve seen God now answer, so sweetly, all those many prayers for him.

“August” is a family name – I wanted him to have a reminder that he’s connected to our family and to all the routes that God took to bring these immigrants together. However, at his adoption, we were also amazed to hear the verses that were read over him – many verses taken from the book of Jeremiah, which is his second name.

We heard Jeremiah 1:4:

The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

Again, we’re learning to trust God about bottles and schedules and bills, August reminds us of God’s faithfulness. His first name reminds us of God’s providence, for generations, even to our own family, and his second name reminds us of the promises and hope God has for his future.