I have administered the sacrament of baptism more than a few times in my (almost) 40 years of ministry. I recall the first one, the child of a good friend in Augusta; I can still feel my hands tremble as I held that child, born with some problems.
I have baptized adults (even the man who became my son in law!), babies in hospitals, teens making their profession of faith, tiny newborns, and chunky almost-toddlers. I have been cried on, screamed at, pushed away, thrown up on, and gazed at as if the children knew how priceless they are. I’ve enjoyed the privilege of baptizing my own grandson.
And every Sunday when we baptize infants, somewhere across the morning, I feel as if I hear God say what He said when Jesus came out of the water: “This is my child, my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”
Every child is God’s child, and He loves them more than we will ever know.