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JodieLyn Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 06 2006 Location: Oregon
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Posted: June 25 2008 at 6:40pm | IP Logged
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I'm not seeing anything that seems to address this in particular.
Do you limit how many children you ask a particular couple to be godparents to??
We've had problems in that many of dh's family are fallen away and I'm a convert and we moved so very often it was hard to make friends.. so we have..
#1 - one of dh's brothers (fallen away now)
#2 - the other of dh's brothers (fallen away now)
#3 - a friend we made singing with a small group choir
#4 and #5 - dh's cousin and wife
#6 and #7 - local couple
For this one we will again choose a local couple.. there's 3 we've considered.. one couple are already the godparents for our #6 and #7..
But would it be too much to ask one couple for 3 kids? or would it be better to ask a different couple? one couple is a bit problematic because they lost a child that was due the same time as ours.. not sure if it would be hurtful or nice to ask them to be godparents to a child that's essentially the same age as the one they lost.
Figuring out the godparents has been the worst of getting each child baptised each time
There is one other option and that's the friend who's godparent to #3.. she's older.. not quite but much closer to our parents' ages..
This makes me
__________________ Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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MrsM Forum Pro
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Posted: June 25 2008 at 7:39pm | IP Logged
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We were godparents for a couple whose baby was born a month after we had a miscarriage. It was happy/sad, and I'm very glad they asked us. Holding that sweet baby boy helped with my healing.
My dh and I have five godchildren, two are from one family--I wouldn't mind a third, but they are very close friends.
I think I know how you feel--I've had godparent "trouble" myself. And the ones I thought would do the best job have turned out to be the least involved/interested as time goes on.
__________________ Lynn in California
Homeschooling dd13, dd11, ds10, and ds8
Mom to Miracle Baby ds3
Mom to darling Elizabeth and Francis, held in Mary's arms and always in my heart
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Mackfam Board Moderator
Non Nobis
Joined: April 24 2006 Location: Alabama
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Posted: June 25 2008 at 8:37pm | IP Logged
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Jodie -
One of my children's godparents have fallen away, and it makes me very sad. After that, Rob and I decided to be extremely choosy. So, my saintly brother and sister are godparents to two of our children, and my parents are godparents to another one. If God should bless us with more, it will continue to be my brother and sister. Sticking with the same godparents removes the question for us and the angst.
__________________ Jen Mackintosh
Wife to Rob, mom to dd 19, ds 16, ds 11, dd 8, and dd 3
Wildflowers and Marbles
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JodieLyn Forum Moderator
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Posted: June 25 2008 at 8:48pm | IP Logged
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Thanks ladies.. Jennifer.. I would be more comfortable with that I think if it was family.. but family is not an option.
__________________ Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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Maddie Forum All-Star
Joined: Dec 27 2005 Location: N/A
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Posted: June 25 2008 at 9:19pm | IP Logged
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We have the same dilemma with each baby too. My first two were baptized before we converted and friends we had at the time were chosen to be GP. They were having some issues in their life and we totally lost contact with them, baby number 3 & 4 ~ no contact~ they went a little Looney Tunes, baby number 5's GP are dear friends but their house burned down a few years back and they have been so busy just getting their life back together, baby 6 has very holy godparents, baby number 7 has a saintly woman as a godparent and my dear brother who has since fallen away , and baby number 8 has the same holy family as number 6. My dear friend of baby number 6 and 8 would be happy to be godparents again as she understands how desperately we want good, holy godparents for our children.
We are godparent to a few babies and I wouldn't hesitate to accepting any more from the families. The godmother of baby number 5 I believe has over 20 godchildren!
If you had any solid Catholic online friends to ask you could always have someone stand in proxy for them if they can't make the baptism. ? Just an idea.
I was hoping to have my oldest two children be godparents someday to a future baby, but we were told it's not allowed. I've heard of other families doing this so next time I'm going to investigate more.
__________________ ~Maddie~
Wife to my dh and Momma of 9 dear ones
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MaryM Board Moderator
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Posted: June 25 2008 at 9:26pm | IP Logged
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We have that problem with fallen away family, especially on my dh's side. We haven't had to ask godparents as many times yet still have some duplication.
#1 - my brother and dh's sister (both now fallen away)
#2 - my sister and my youngest brother
#3 - my sister and her husband
#4 - couple who are long time friends
so we did double up since my sister is godmother to two. If we were blessed with another I'm pretty sure we would double again as my youngest brother is getting married this fall and he and his wife would be a good choice.
This thread made me think of my parents. They are godparents to 4 children from the same family. The husband of this family was someone my father worked with - they were converts and didn't have much of a Catholic support network. So they always asked my parents for all their children. I know they were happy to do it and are still in touch with them though they are now grown.
In the case of the couple who lost the baby, I would say go ahead and ask prefacing it by acknowledging their sorrow, making it clear that if they felt they couldn't do it, you would understand.
__________________ Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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Martha Forum All-Star
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Posted: June 25 2008 at 9:27pm | IP Logged
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I think if you have 1 or 2 good Catholic folks, then I'd keep using them....er... well using doesn't sound nice! but you know what I mean.
__________________ Martha
mama to 7 boys & 4 girls
Yes, they're all ours!
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Jen L. Forum All-Star
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Posted: June 25 2008 at 9:44pm | IP Logged
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I friend of mine has 5 kids - all have the same godparents! I would have never thought of it myself, but wish I had.
I now think that God's plan for two of my kids' godparents is for their Godchildren to pray for them. I have asked a good friend of mine to make my kids her "adoptive godparents"
__________________ Jen
dh Klete,ds (8/95),dd (12/97), dd (11/00), and ^2^ in heaven
"...the best state in which to glorify God is our actual state; the best grace is that of the moment..." St. Peter Eymard
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SuzanneG Forum Moderator
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Posted: June 25 2008 at 10:19pm | IP Logged
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Martha wrote:
I think if you have 1 or 2 good Catholic folks, then I'd keep using them....er... well using doesn't sound nice! but you know what I mean.
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I agree.
__________________ Suzanne in ID
Wife to Pete
Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)
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Paula in MN Forum All-Star
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Posted: June 26 2008 at 6:17am | IP Logged
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Maddie wrote:
I was hoping to have my oldest two children be godparents someday to a future baby, but we were told it's not allowed. I've heard of other families doing this so next time I'm going to investigate more. |
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I know several families who have done this, and I've never heard that it wasn't allowed. I'd love to hear what your investigation digs up!
__________________ Paula
A Catholic Harvest
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Maria B. Forum All-Star
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Posted: June 26 2008 at 7:41am | IP Logged
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My two older children are godparents to our youngest child. There was no problem.
__________________ Maria in VA
Proud Mom to 10 Great kids!
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Taffy Forum All-Star
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Posted: June 26 2008 at 8:43am | IP Logged
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I know very few people who I would consider to be "godparent material" but have a very good single friend who is my "role model" in all matters catholic! She is godmother to ALL my four children. Only my oldest has two and this other person has fallen away...
Luckily, my friend is quite happy to be godmamma to all my kids and I'm sure she will gladly say yes to more. Really cuts down on the stress.
__________________ Susan
Mom to 5 on earth and 1 in heaven
Susan's Soliloquy
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DominaCaeli Forum All-Star
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Posted: June 26 2008 at 10:05am | IP Logged
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My mother-in-law is the sole godparent for our two children so far and will be for our next as well. Most of our family is non-practicing (or not Catholic at all) and we don't really have any Catholic friends that we are close enough to, so she is really our only choice. Thankfully she does not mind.
__________________ Blessings,
Celeste
Joyous Lessons
Mommy to six: three boys (8, 4, newborn) and four girls (7, 5, 2, and 1)
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Cay Gibson Forum All-Star
Joined: July 16 2005 Location: Louisiana
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Posted: June 26 2008 at 10:40am | IP Logged
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Maria B. wrote:
My two older children are godparents to our youngest child. There was no problem. |
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Since my oldest two have both confirmed I keep saying at least we know who would be the godparents if we had another. No problem.
I am the godmother to my cousin's three children and for two of my brother's girls. And my dh was asked to be godfather to his brother's two sons.
We always wanted our dc to have their own "special" godparents. But I see the logic in having the same godparents across the board.
__________________ Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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ALmom Forum All-Star
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Posted: June 26 2008 at 10:47am | IP Logged
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We have similiar godparent struggles. Most of our dc have the same godparent (my sister and her dh)- except one child. When we were going to choose the same one, the priest asked us to find someone that would be uniquely theirs - so we went with a very, very close friend. I don't think it was a church law or anything and I think he would have allowed us to use the same person again, but we just felt called to follow his advice for some reason. The dh in this family also became my dh sponsor that year. I hesitated to go with friends just because of the potential of losing contact,since I had no contact with my godparents all my years. But, then, right after this baptism, my godparents whom I had never really known ended up moving here. I met one of their children and they shared with me how my picture had been a fixture on their mantle and their parents had prayed for me daily all those years.
We have since gone back to asking my sis and her dh as I hesitate to ask friends, who have plenty of family of their own, to be godparents for numbers of our children.
We are a little open about which way to go and pray hard before choosing. The biggest requirement in our mind is that they are very good, practicing Catholics - the kind of people we could picture raising our children if something happened to us - and picky as I am about that, there aren't tons - not even sure we'd qualify .
Janet
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Mary K Forum All-Star
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Posted: June 27 2008 at 6:22am | IP Logged
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Our kids Godparents are:
1. my db and ga (great aunt, who was also my Gm) both still faithful.
2.bil, sil (dh's sibs). she's faithful, he's not now.
3. my brother and sil-both still faithful.
4. another brother and wife. now divorced.
5. good friends. still faithful, but not much contact.
6. bil and wife. both fallen away.
7. very good friends, like family. both very faithful. mom was also dd's confirmation sponsor.
8. have asked db (#1's Gf) and wife to be her Gp's. My dad and stepmom will stand in as proxy since they live in Europe.
Mary-NY
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sewcrazy Forum All-Star
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Posted: June 28 2008 at 11:25am | IP Logged
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My children have the same godparents: my BIL and a good friend of mine from when we were in grade school. They are both consecrated celibate single persons, so my children are in many ways their children. It has been nice not to stress about it.
LeeAnn
__________________ LeeAnn
Wife of David, mom to Ben, Dennis, Alex, Laura, Philip and our little souls in heaven we have yet to meet
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Becky Le Forum Rookie
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Posted: June 30 2008 at 8:04am | IP Logged
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I am the godmother to my best friend's 2 children and should God bless them with more children I would love to be their godmother too!
I don't think there is anything wrong with asking someone to be a godparent to multiple children. In fact I think it's an honor.
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