Ellie's Baptism

Ellie was baptized on Sunday, April 3rd. When Matt and Sally were scheduling the baptism, they had many factors to consider. One was the availability of the godparents, Cassie (Matt's sister) and Wayne (Sally's brother). Cassie lives and works in Nashville and Wayne travels quite a bit for work and for pleasure. Then there was Lent, the 40 days during which no baptisms are performed. April 3rd was the first Sunday after Easter and so they decided on that date. In the meantime, I was in the process of scheduling my hip surgery. There were many considerations in choosing that date, too (work and Jack's travel schedule being the top two). When I scheduled my surgery for Wednesday, March 30th, I knew that meant that I would not be able to go to the baptism. Then, two weeks before the surgery, I got a call asking if I wanted to move it up 2 days to March 28th. I jumped all over that, but still did not think I would be in any shape to go to Ellie's baptism.

I came home from the hospital on Wednesday March 30th and started with in home physical therapy on Thursday. I was a bit skeptical about in home PT, thinking that it would not be challenging or productive enough. I could not have been more wrong. My PT was a woman named Nikki who was just what I needed. I saw her Thursday, Friday and Saturday and she was all about function. On Thursday, Nikki showed me how to get in and out of bed, in and out of the shower, up and down my basement stairs. By Friday, I was walking unassisted! She provided me with challenging exercises to build up my endurance. On Saturday, she asked about my plans for the rest of the weekend. I told Nikki about my granddaughter's baptism and how I was sorry I wasn't able to go. Nikki said she thought I should try to go. She told me to put my coat and shoes on and took me outside. We did our front steps, got in and out of the car and she pronounced me ready to go! I was thrilled.

A selfie with my PT Nikki

On Sunday, our focus was getting me ready to go. I was pumped full of pain meds, showered and ready to go. It was a thrill to be there, to witness Ellie's first sacrament. I brought the camera, but Julie and Sally did all of the photography. I was also able to go to the celebration at a restaurant. It was so special.

Being able to attend Ellie's baptism was yet another example of how God works in our lives and we don't need to worry about how it will play out..."it will all become clear". And it did.

Ellie and her parents and grandparents

godparents Cassie and Wayen