Parker's Baptism

What a special day!

Yesterday Parker was baptized and confirmed as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We have been looking forward to and planning for this day for quite some time. Both Grandma and Grandpa Wardle and Grandma and Grandpa Romney were able to come to North Carolina for this special event. 

The program was very nice and the Spirit was very strong. Parker, Connor and some of their Primary classmates sang, "I Know That My Savior Loves Me" to begin the program. Then Grandpa Romney gave a talk about baptism, after which Parker was baptized by Jason. Parker told me afterwards that he was kind of scared, but when he got in the warm water, he felt good and happy. I told him this was the Holy Ghost testifying to him that what he was doing was right.

After the baptism, Kelsey gave a talk about the Gift of the Holy Ghost and then Parker was confirmed by Jason. Both grandfathers and our Bishop joined in the circle. After the service was over, we enjoyed some yummy refreshments and chatted with all those that came to support Parker. It really was a very special day.

We are so proud of Parker and his decision to be baptized. Because of his health condition which requires a permanent IV, getting baptized was a little complicated for Parker and he was very nervous about going under the water. We had several discussions with Parker about what we would do in regard to his IV and dressing, but he was still worried about it. A few days before the baptism, we suggested to Parker that we "practice" going under the water in the bathtub. He agreed and actually wanted to do it just like we would do it for the Baptism, with the white jumpsuit and everything! At first I thought that was kind of silly and unnecessary, but Jason felt that if it helped Parker feel better and less nervous, we should do it. So, we filled up the tub as high as we could, unhooked him from his IV pump, covered up his dressing with Glad Press n' Seal and an Aquagard and then let him submerge completely under the water. This was one of the few times in his whole life that he had been completely under water. After a few tries, he was over his worries and was having fun! He even said, "This is actually fun!!" Doing this was definitely a prompting from the Holy Ghost. It not only helped Parker, but it eased our worries and concerns over his IV as well. That night, after we were done practicing, Parker said, "How many days until I get baptized?" We counted down the days and then he said, "I'm SO excited! I can't wait!!!" This was the first time Parker had shown any excitement about his baptism. I could actually see the worry and burden being lifted from his shoulders.

Thankfully, everything went as well as it could with the baptism and Parker did great! We felt like this was one of those big milestone events for us--something we never thought would happen 7 years ago when Parker was diagnosed with Pulmonary Hypertension. We are so incredibly grateful for how well Parker has done over the years--he has certainly beaten the odds and proven that anything is possible with faith in Lord.