Christening

Religion can be a hot topic of debate when a husband and wife come from two different backgrounds. Luckily my husband and I are of the same mold, where the religion isn't as important as the morals our child grows up with. If you had asked me years ago if I would let me son get baptized in any other church besides Mormon, I would have said "No way. I won't baptize my kid until they are old enough to decide for themselves what they want." But leave it to falling in love, learning about compromise, and evaluating what is most important in my life to change all of that.

The Armenian Orthodox religion is one of the oldest in the world. But more important than the religion itself is the tradition that has run through Paul's family for generations upon generations. So when the topic of Christening the baby came up, there was no argument from me. This was for the sake of tradition. And my mom very wisely pointed out to me that "Hey, it can't hurt anything." And ain't that the truth.

So on May 28th, our little baby was brought into the fold, so to speak. We invited our families and closest friends to witness the big day and it really was special to have everyone together for the occasion. Stevie wore his Sunday best to the church (which included his red Chuck Taylors), and was on his best behavior. I didn't understand much of the ceremony because it was in Armenian (or broken English that I couldn't quite make out) but the basic jist included a lot of prayer and blessings for the baby. The priest blessed the water and the oil that he was anointed with, and then the little guy had his big moment. We undressed him and took him to the baptismal font and he pretty much had a meltdown. I think when they rubbed oil on his lips, he tasted it and freaked out. But either way, he was pretty ticked. After the actual baptism, we changed him into his little Christening outfit - kind of like a little baby tuxedo - and showed him off to everyone. Cue the swooning and giggles from the audience. We had a couple photo opps and were outta there. We celebrated with everyone at an amazing luncheon hosted by hubby's Aunt. And the day was just perfect. I'll post more pictures when I get them from the photographer.

The biggest treat for me was that my family made the trek (and a lot of rearrangements) to be in attendance. We are so grateful for all the support we've been given with this little bug and I'm glad I chose to partake in this experience. Now my son has a Godfather and Godmother who will always be on his team, plus the countless aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, etc who love him unconditionally. We really are blessed, regardless of religion. Or lack thereof.