"... and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them"
On Sunday, May 30th, Bryan held our little girl in his arms and gave her a priesthood blessing. Similar to Christening in other religions, we follow the example of Jesus Christ and give our babies a blessing. We don't get baptized until the age of eight, but just as in Christening, we give a name and a blessing to our babies when they are born. When Christ was on the Earth, He invited the people to bring their children unto Him, and He blessed them one by one.
Bryan gave a beautiful blessing and I am so happy that my dad could also be part of the circle.
A name and a blessing
In the scriptures, a new name is often involved when a covenant relationship is formed. God himself named Adam, Adam was given the responsibility of naming Eve, Jehovah entered into a covenant with Jacob changing his name to Israel just as He did when entering into the covenant with Abram changing his name to Abraham. We also follow this pattern at the age of eight when we choose to get baptized, and take upon ourselves the name of Christ.
"In each of these cases, the one giving the name assumes responsibility for protecting, loving, and nurturing the one receiving the new name. And the recipient of the name, in turn, is to honor the name-giver and follow his counsel." What a beautiful thought. Bryan and I chose the name Nellie Michele. We are the ones who gave her the name and are thus responsible for protecting, loving, and nurturing our baby girl. Oh how I pray that we can be the best parents possible for baby Nellie as she grows up.
Baby blessing brunch
After the church services, we were able to come back to our house and celebrate baby Nellie with a brunch. We are so grateful for the COVID-19 Vaccine that allowed us to meet in our small group without worry or fear of transferring the disease. I am grateful that little Nellie is able to get the antibodies through me and that we were able to come together and have a nice time celebrating our baby girl. I am also incredibly grateful that my parents were able to fly out and be with us this weekend and that my mom has been able to help me for the past week!
We are so lucky to have such amazing friends and family and this little girl is so incredibly blessed to be born into the Pratt and Ekins families. We had such a fun time planning this celebration and it couldn't have turned out better!!
A Blanket from Bethlehem
Nellie was dressed in all white with a beautiful white dress and wrapped in a special blanket that my sister brought back straight from Bethlehem. Bryan blessed Nellie to be a light to others and how perfect that she could be wrapped in a blanket from Bethlehem symbolizing the example of Christ that she can follow. She was perfect and just slept the entire blessing and we were so happy that she liked the Bethlehem blanket.
