Family Birthday Celebration

Family Birthday Celebration is one of my favorite days all year. While getting all the details for the day taken care of can be a daunting task, the reward at the end of the day far outweighs the effort expended to make it possible. I love Family Birthday Celebration because it is the day where we are able to see some of the steps that our children and students have taken in pursuit of their relationships with God.

In Family Ministry, our goal is to help our children/students to take the next steps in their relationships with God, As we talk with leaders and parents, we often use phrases, such as: “Our goal is to partner with parents” – “Every child needs another adult in their lives who is saying the same things that the parents are saying” – “Life change happens in the context of small groups.” During Family Birthday Celebration on May 18th, I watched 5 elementary-aged students, a middle school student, and a parent celebrate their relationships with Jesus Christ through baptism. As Andy Jones, our student pastor, baptized each person, I thought of their stories and realized that these phrases are not just things that we say because they sound nice, but they are becoming an integral part of the Family Ministry at Watermarke Church. These are a few of the memories that brought a smile to my face and tears to my eyes.

• Celebrating as a mother and her son shared the special memory of being baptized together.
• Watching one of the boys run into the arms of his waiting father after he had changed into some dry clothes.
• Seeing a child standing on the porch waiting for his small group leader to arrive because it was important to him for her to see him get baptized.
• Hearing a mother say how special that day was for herself and for her children who were baptized.
• Praying with the family of one of the girls in my small group following her baptism.
• Knowing the personal anxieties of the students/children about making their videos or being in front of people and seeing them overcome those anxieties on the day of their baptisms.

Though week in and week out it’s difficult to measure the impact that we’re having on the lives of our children and students, Family Birthday Celebration reminded me that we are having an impact. It reminded me that it is a tremendous privilege to be able to influence the hearts and lives of the children/families who attend Watermarke Church. ~ Wyndi Beck, Family Ministry Director