Oh happy day! November 19, 2016 will always be a happy day in the Kennedy annals. It was Allison's baptism day.
We had been fasting and praying for her for months. So much fasting and so much praying. I honestly never knew how much I could care about someone who is investigating the church. I wanted to take her hand and lead her down the path...or maybe I wanted more to pile every bit of knowledge and faith that I've acquired over 40 years in the church onto her and force her to see how wonderful it is. However, it was a study in free agency, that's for sure. And trusting that the Spirit can work.
She had such a great team of support in the sister missionaries and Mark that the rest of us were really just bench players. However, we gave everything we could to her to let her know that we cared and that we supported her.
What a testimony it is to Allison and her own faith that she made the decision to be baptized. I believe several of us questioned if we would have the strength to do it ourselves if we weren't brought up in the church. She read the scriptures on her own, she set up appointments with the sisters, she went to stake conference on her own, and listened to general conference (while Mark was home with us). It's been inspiring to see her take each step.
So when she set a baptismal date, we were all over-joyed...and a little bit in shock. Let's face it--the Kennedys haven't had the greatest of luck, being missionaries. We love the gospel so much, and we recognize how good our lives are when we live the gospel. However, we've been unable to translate that successfully to anyone else. What a journey it was for all of us to watch Allison take all of those steps.
So when the baptism weekend rolled around, it was even more inspiring to see Allison not give up. Her parents were worried for her being baptized, and they didn't plan on coming to her baptism. Too, she had spent the last several weeks studying for the GRE and had taken it only the night before. There was a little bit of stress going on, to say the least.
Despite it all though, she made it.
She had asked that it not be publicized, so only those who were invited were there. The counselors in the bishopric, her sister Kat, the sisters (of course), and the Kennedys. As nice as everything was, it really hit home that the most important thing is the actual process of being baptized and making the baptismal covenants with God. It's all done in a matter of seconds, and yet that moment plays into eternity.
Afterwards, we went to a fun Mexican restaurant on the west side of Ann Arbor (FINALLY we spent some time on MY turf....) so that we could catch the rest of the football game (snow anyone?) and just celebrate. There's nothing like some homemade guacamole being made at your table to let you know that all is right with the world. And while I would like to comment on how Allison's decision personally affects our family, let's just put it this way: let the countdown clock begin :-)
We had been fasting and praying for her for months. So much fasting and so much praying. I honestly never knew how much I could care about someone who is investigating the church. I wanted to take her hand and lead her down the path...or maybe I wanted more to pile every bit of knowledge and faith that I've acquired over 40 years in the church onto her and force her to see how wonderful it is. However, it was a study in free agency, that's for sure. And trusting that the Spirit can work.
She had such a great team of support in the sister missionaries and Mark that the rest of us were really just bench players. However, we gave everything we could to her to let her know that we cared and that we supported her.
What a testimony it is to Allison and her own faith that she made the decision to be baptized. I believe several of us questioned if we would have the strength to do it ourselves if we weren't brought up in the church. She read the scriptures on her own, she set up appointments with the sisters, she went to stake conference on her own, and listened to general conference (while Mark was home with us). It's been inspiring to see her take each step.
So when she set a baptismal date, we were all over-joyed...and a little bit in shock. Let's face it--the Kennedys haven't had the greatest of luck, being missionaries. We love the gospel so much, and we recognize how good our lives are when we live the gospel. However, we've been unable to translate that successfully to anyone else. What a journey it was for all of us to watch Allison take all of those steps.
So when the baptism weekend rolled around, it was even more inspiring to see Allison not give up. Her parents were worried for her being baptized, and they didn't plan on coming to her baptism. Too, she had spent the last several weeks studying for the GRE and had taken it only the night before. There was a little bit of stress going on, to say the least.
Despite it all though, she made it.
She had asked that it not be publicized, so only those who were invited were there. The counselors in the bishopric, her sister Kat, the sisters (of course), and the Kennedys. As nice as everything was, it really hit home that the most important thing is the actual process of being baptized and making the baptismal covenants with God. It's all done in a matter of seconds, and yet that moment plays into eternity.Afterwards, we went to a fun Mexican restaurant on the west side of Ann Arbor (FINALLY we spent some time on MY turf....) so that we could catch the rest of the football game (snow anyone?) and just celebrate. There's nothing like some homemade guacamole being made at your table to let you know that all is right with the world. And while I would like to comment on how Allison's decision personally affects our family, let's just put it this way: let the countdown clock begin :-)
How exciting, and wonderful, and sweet, and just all the good happy words. Congratulations to Allison!
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