GODPARENTS

Ellie finally has godparents!!!!!!!

Meet Reeser & Jenny Williams. They are the music and worship directors at our church. Reeser is originally from Haiti. He and Jenny met while serving at a church in AZ. They have three children; Justin, Ben, and Maddie.

So why Godparents?

Well I know there are many reasons people do godparents. They want to honor a special friend in their life, someone to raise their kids should something happen to them, someone to help with financially raising their children, someone to teach their child about their faith, and so on.

We have decided to have godparents for our children for a very practical spiritual reason. (We have family who would raise our children if something ever happened to us) We wanted our children to each have a special couple in their life that would specifically pray for, and over, that child. They would be a spiritual covering for them. We specifically ask each godparent to pray that our children would come to know Jesus as their personal savior at a young age. But we also want them to be a part of each child's life. So that if there would ever be an occasion that our children felt like they couldn't come and talk to us, they would feel close enough to their godparents to go to them. And having picked their godparents, whom have a like mind in spiritual things, we know they would always take them to God's word for answers. Todd and I pray that God would make a cord of four between God, us, our child, and their godparents. Remember God's word says a cord of three strands is not easily broken. How much stronger would a cord of four strands be? And since he is the center of that strand we know we have provided our children with an extra measure of protection.

Todd and I have chosen married couples as the kids' godparents. And all of them are non family members. Why no family members? Because family members already have special titles (ie aunt, uncle, cousin).

This was not an easy task. We wanted a couple that BOTH the husband and wife were spiritually strong. And a couple that we could make a commitment to their families as well. (To pray for)

Have we ever asked a couple and they turned us down?

Yes. And it was not easy, but God showed us so much thru it all. We couldn't understand why when we had prayed about it, they said no. Sometimes it was a change in the relationship, sometimes we didn't really listen to God, and sometimes we feel like it was the couple not listening to God. I will not share which one of our children this happened with. Mainly because it doesn't matter. In the end God picked just the right couple for all of them.

We pray and ask God to show us who he wants as their godparents. Then we pray over our choice. Sometimes we know right away and at other times it takes us awhile. Ellie's has taken awhile. Why? Well Todd and I didn't want to rush into it. We wanted to really hear God on this. We asked one couple and they were honest enough with us to say they were godparents to 3 other children and felt like they would not be what Ellie needed. (yes, Jenny & Reeser know this) We so appreciated their honesty. But who to ask? Then Jessica's godmother told me she felt like Ellie's godparents were at our new church. (this was before we even moved churches) Boy was she right! :) I know some will think we asked Jenny and Reeser only because Reeser is from Haiti. But I will tell you what I told them when we asked them to be her godparents. We did NOT pick them because of Reeser being from Haiti. We asked them because we have watched them for months and seen with our own eyes their faith lived out not just in their words, but their actions. And we want Ellie to have that example set out before her. The fact that Reeser is from Haiti is just icing on the cake!!!!

In the end the kids have all gotten just the right godparents for them. Some take a more active part in the girls' lives than others. But we NEVER doubt that they all pray for their godchild on a regular basis! Our children have been blessed with amazing godparents and we thank God every day for them.

One other thing we started this past Christmas is we sent out a separate letter to the godparents, along with our Christmas cards, that gives them a list of things we need prayer for for our children in the upcoming year. And we also let them know which prayer request from the previous year were answered. We feel like it has helped give a united front against any attacks where our children are concerned. The godparents seemed to really like this. They like having a specific list to use when praying for our children. And I feel really good that it will encourage us both to keep praying as we see God's answers.

Jessica and her godparents: Derek & Angie Besing

Megan's godparents: Jeremy & Michelle Cundiff

Lillie's godparents: Paul & Angie Dunham

Lillie's 2nd godmother (one of my best friends growing up that I wanted to honor) Joann Coker

Jonas' godparents: Robert & Rebekah Vance (our best friends)

Hugs, Kristina