Grace

Grace Guiry Watson



Clara's dress is the baptism gown of Jordyn Kester, our dear friends Phil & Debi's daughter who passed away when she was just two.

Sunday afternoon we had a special afternoon service in which our daughter became Clara Elizabeth Grace. It was a small way we could honor our dear niece and keep her with us and a part of our family, always. We cannot thank you enough for all your thoughts, prayers and tears for our family.

Below is an excerpt from the service that Mark wrote.

Discipleship is both a gift and a commitment, an offering and a responsibility. It is marked by change, growth, and deepened commitment. It is lived out of a renewing sense of God’s calling
and of God’s claim upon us made in our baptism. In the biblical story, significant change, growth and deepened commitment was sealed through the giving or changing of a name.

To carry the name of a deceased loved one, might seem a heavy burden for such a little one as Clara. But grace is never heavy, as Christ reminds us: “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Clara:
Your parents named you Clara because it means beautiful light, and their hope for you is you may reflect to the world the most beautiful and brightest light of all: the light of Jesus Christ.

Elizabeth:
Your parents named you Elizabeth because that name goes back generations of women in your mother’s family. And Elizabeth means Promise of God, may you come to know and trust God’s promise of kingdom life in Jesus Christ, thus continuing the hopes and dreams of past generations who also carried your name.

Grace:
Grace means an undeserved gift, or unmerited favor. And you are both an undeserved gift, and through Jesus Christ, the recipient of unmerited favor. Your aunt and uncle gave their daughter the name Grace so that she might spend her lifetime, marveling, exploring and coming to know the grace of Jesus Christ.

Now, your parents add Grace to Clara Elizabeth so you might do the same, and in doing so, honor God and remember your cousin. You are, from the moment you were known, a delight to your mother and father. And you will always be special in the eyes of your aunt and uncle. For now, your stages of life will also be markers to us all, of your cousin. Your first day of school, getting your drivers license, graduating from high school, going away to school, finding your love of both partner and vocation, and if it be God’s will when you have children of your own. All these milestones will also be reminders to us all, of your cousin Grace.

You are now, in the eyes of God as witnessed by this congregation,
Clara Elizabeth Grace.
As you grow and mature, may grace grow and mature with you.