If you’re like me, you’ve celebrated plenty of regular birthdays – the birthdays that acknowledge how old our physical bodies are, calendar year after calendar year. Sometimes it’s balloons and Barbie’s, cake and go-carts, dinner and dancing, or simply gifs on Facebook.
And if you’re like me, you’ve also seen plenty of baptisms either in-person or across social. Whether it’s the gentle, Catholic-style water and oil on the forehead (like I grew up with) or a splashy full-immersion (like I’m accustomed to now), there are always tons of cheers, applause, and “amen’s” all around. Many times there are big parties and fancy meals afterwards.
But have you ever celebrated a baptism birthday – your own or anyone else’s? Have you ever even heard of celebrating such a thing?
I, for one, have never celebrated nor heard of a baptism birthday. Until today. My son’s.
My teen son’s request to get baptized
When my son was 13 – I’ll call him by his middle name, Henri, because he’s a pretty private person – he said he wanted to get baptized. I was completely stunned – and kept that reaction inside.
On the outside, I calmly asked him, “Hmmm, why?” You see, my husband and I, as non-believers when we had our boys, had chosen not to raise them in any religion. I had no idea where Henri would have gotten such an idea.
Turns out, he had been reading the Bible, and he thought that was something he should do.
“Ah, reading the Bible? Um, what part did you start with?” Side note: I’m very good at presenting a perfectly calm exterior when I have to, thanks to my childhood ballet teacher who taught us to “never let them see you sweat, even if you fall off the stage” – which I have done.
He had started on page 1.
“Ah. Um, how long have you been reading?”
He had been reading for about a month or so. Other side note: This boy had hated reading anything except comics pretty much all through grade school.
“Wow. And where are you now?”
Exodus.
I felt like I had just fallen off a stage again.
His journey to his baptism
Time. To. Sit. Down.
I had to tell Henri about why his dad and I had decided to raise him outside of any church. (Rough. And probably a topic for a separate article.)
I had to tell him about growing up Catholic and turning away from God while 2 of my sisters and my brother fully accepted Jesus in their churches. (Painful. And, to be honest, such a big topic, it will end up as a memoir or something.)
Over the course of several conversations, I also felt the need to warn Henri about churches and people with wrong and evil intentions. (Real. And based on experience and fear.)
And then I had to start going to church with him – partly because he was too young to drive, and partly because…
This was my journey, too
The following year was filled with such things as:
- revisiting Catholic Mass,
- trying the church of his best buddy (and loving it, thanks, CityLight LA),
- paying attention in new, actually attentive ways to readings from Scripture, and
- fielding Henri’s requests to get rid of various statues in our home and garden because he thought they were idols.
I considered very deeply my Reiki mastership and love of crystals and witchy woo-woo, while soaking up the historical context of the Bible, which I had left behind 25 years prior.
And as my world started turning upside-down – or was it actually right-side up? – I was ever-so-carefully stewarding Henri. Or so I thought.
The truth was, I was following his incredibly strong, Holy Spirit-filled lead.
My son’s actual baptism
Within just a couple of weeks of starting to attend the welcoming and spot-on Bible-based services at CityLight LA, Henri asked to be baptized at their upcoming October Baptism Sunday.
He was so solid, so secure, so assured. Of course, I agreed that it was time, and I reached out to the pastor who oversees baptisms.
At CityLight, this pastor, Pastor Alberto, meets with you to talk about what baptism means – and be sure you’re ready. We arranged to meet at a coffee place – yay! And I remember being so self-conscious as Pastor Alberto opened his Bible at the table, prayed over us, and then began reading aloud. I could not believe I was sitting at this table, with lattes, and with people possibly overhearing our conversation about… gulp, Jesus.
That coffee meeting was the beginning of my deep transition from someone who had actively sneered at “Bible thumpers” to a girl now crazy-in-love with Jesus.
Now, Henri is usually quiet and shy, almost painfully so compared to my friendly, talkative nature. So, when he stepped confidently into the baptismal pool and answered the question, “Henri, have you placed your faith in Jesus Christ?” and he answered with an almost-booming, “Yup!” I was utterly stunned, proud, and in awe.
The sheer power of the Holy Spirit residing in him… wow, I realized there was no turning back for him – or for me.
His baptism birthday celebration
In the year since then, much has happened – including my own conversion the very next January and baptism that following April.
A month ago or so, when CityLight announced that Baptism Sunday was happening this October (today, as I write this), I wondered what I could do to celebrate Henri’s one-year rebirth-day. Like I said at the top, I’d never heard of such a thing.
Then one night, as I was saying goodnight to him, I noticed that his hardback Bible – the one he had accepted as CityLight’s gift the very first day we went there – was literally coming apart at the binding. He had been reading it that much!
So I gave him a leather-bound edition.
Ahhh, the look in his eyes as he felt the leather in his hands and turned quickly to Psalms, his favorite book. Ahhh, his clear delight when he found maps and concordance in the back.
And the number of times he said “Thank you” as he paged through the Gospels… as the commercial concludes: Priceless.
I knew this had been the perfect way to celebrate.
Reflective Response:
Have you ever celebrated a baptism birthday? If so, please email me at drcoco@cococabrel.com and let me know how!
Never celebrated a baptism birthday? Hmmm, might you now consider doing so? If so, what might you do?
And PS –
Not to worry, I’ll hop back into my series on Paul’s List of Favorite Things for Releasing Anxiety… as soon as we’re done celebrating!
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