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Kieran,
Here are a few words that your uncle Azfar and your aunt Missy and your cousin Salma would like to share with you, on this very special day of your baptism. When you are older and look back on this day, we hope it will be an experience of growth, of coming to understand not only how much you are loved by your family and by God, but also that you will come to know increasingly the true meaning of love. We believe that "love" is not a noun, but a verb—that is, love is something that becomes truly meaningful through actions, not just words. We also believe that love reaches across difference and teaches us not to fear difference but to embrace it. As our favorite Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore puts it:
"In love you do not retreat,
but only stretch the wings of your hope,
and provide light and shade.
In love you extend yourself
across the world that does not fear difference."
On this day, we also speak of possibilities and promises of building a better world for humanity. We hope your words, your work, and your world together will contribute to the advancement of suffering humanity and that whatever you choose to do in your life, you will always stand against injustice. In that spirit, we dedicate some more lines to you—lines from the Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet:
"The most beautiful sea hasn't been crossed yet.
The most beautiful child hasn't grown up yet.
Our most beautiful days we haven't lived yet.
And the most beautiful words I want to tell you I haven't said yet."
We love you, Kieran.
Love,
Your aunt Missy, your uncle Azfar, and your cousin Salma
Blessings be with you today our grandson
Through your life may our world be lit with love.
May your life be filled with: gentleness, kindness, truth and beauty
Where ever you go and whatever you do may the grace and love of God abide in your heart.
- Grand Pa and Grandma Tennyson
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Dear Maranda and Kenneth,
My thoughts and love will be with you on this important day.
My prayer is that God will give you great wisdom and love as you raise this precious little boy.
I wish I could see him and hold him but that day will come. He is my precious first great grandson.
May God bless him and guide him all the days of his life is my prayer.
- Love Great Grandma Riley
____________________________________________________Kieran is a super-blessed child. I pray that he is gentle and kind, a lover of God and man. I pray that he will rise up like Joshua who will stand strong for God. That all who know him will be blessed.
Marilyn Alger, (Doula who assisted Kieran’s birth)
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To My Wonderful Nephew Kieran
I love you.
Baptism is identification with the death and resurrection of Christ. It is a symbol of being reborn and living a new life by the grace of God. “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” Romans 6:4
I pray that as you grow up you will choose for yourself to follow Jesus Christ and live for Him. I pray that you will know God personally. He has made you. He loves you and has an incredible life for you.
I pray as the Apostle Paul did for the Ephesians in chapter 1 verses 16 – 19a “I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”
Love Always,
Aunt Trina
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Dear Kieran,
You are such a blessing to us! As you are baptized today, our love and prayers are with you. We believe that, from your beginning in the womb, God has known and loved you with an everlasting love as he did Jeremiah. (See Jeremiah 1:5 and 31:3) The Bible tells us in Psalm 10:16a that He, "The Lord is King forever and ever." Wow, Kieran, you are loved by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Our highest hope and prayer is that you will grow to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. We are confident that the deepest love and joy you can know and the most abundant life you can live will be found by knowing Him as Lord and walking in His Spirit. May He bless you richly your whole life long.
We love you very much.
Love, Grandpa Paul and Grandma Kathy (Schmitt : ) (04-15-07)
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Dear Kieran,
I woke up early this morning (in Tiller, Oregon) thinking of you and praying for you. I pray that as you grow & mature your hearts desire will be to know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. May the Bible, His word to us, be a lamp to your feet and a light to your path (Psalm 119:105) and may the fruits of His Spirit be strong within you. I pray that you will know His love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control and that He will give you the power to live in a way that others will see His fruits in your life (Galatians 5:22-23). I love you Kieran and am looking forward to your visit to Oregon this summer. It was such a joy to visit you and your family in your Virginia home about a year ago. It is hard to live far apart, we do love you so much and pray for you often!
With Love & Prayers, Aunt Paula (XO)
Love from our whole family, Uncle Larry, Nicole & Rachel (XO
Dear Kieran,
We wish you and your family a very special day of celebration as you are baptized. I know God has blessed you with immediate family and lots of extended family who will gently nurture you as you grow into your Christian faith and find your own ways to make it personal and meaningful. I will never forget our Thanksgiving together in Oregon in '06 when you were barely a year old. I was SO AMAZED at how much you had to say to the world! I couldn't decipher too much of it, but you seemed to know exactly what you were saying! I can't wait to be with you again when I can try to keep up better and understand all the things in that little head! May your words always be full of joy and may you always know, like "The Velveteen Rabbit," that you are loved (evidenced by having the "fur loved off" over time if you are a velveteen rabbit!) and that in all the universe, that is what makes us REAL.
God Bless You, Little One! Go with God, and blessings on you,
Aunt Nancy
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