The Role of a Godparent


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Maddie’s godmothers are my long time friends, Mionna, Dorothy and Tia (as pictured from left to right in the photo below). I clearly didn’t think things through when I made the decision to choose all of them to be her godmother knowing I would have more children eventually. They all totally adore Maddie though and often find ways to love on and celebrate her whenever they can.

I chose these ladies because I love them and because they know me better than anyone else, having known me most of my life.  I chose them because should something happen to me I would want them to keep in touch with Maddie.  To tell her stories about me.  For them to be a listening ear when she needed advice.  For Maddie to still have a piece of me through them because they knew me so very well.

I did not choose them with the expectation that they would shower my child with gifts during the baby shower, birthdays, holidays and the like.  They aren’t expected to help me with expenses associated with her parties, education, you name it.  They do things for her but it’s not expected, and again not why they were chosen.  My only expectation for them is for them to be there for her emotionally and to be present in her life if she ever needs them, especially if I were to go on to glory too soon.

I’ve also found that a lot of parents choose godparents so that should something happen to both them and their partner at the same time the godparents would become the guardians.  This isn’t an expectation that I have of Maddie’s godparents as we have individuals in our family we would like to take this on if it where ever necessary.  But for those who do choose godparents as potential guardians, considering what’s required from a legal aspect isn’t often thought through.  If this is your reasoning for selecting a godparent I encourage you to take steps to ensure that there is documentation in place that makes this clear.

 “Generally, a godparent-godchild relationship is characterized by spiritual or moral advising to the child and his or her family, and godparents’ rights to child custody are not often discussed as a possibility.” – Family Law

Everyone should have a will, but I believe that it becomes all the more critical to have one when you become a parent.  If you haven’t thought through this sort of thing; who you would want to raise your children and any other wishes you might have, I suggest that you put something in place as soon as possible.  Let’s make sure that we prepare for the worse, while praying for a long and fruitful life, so that our children are covered should God have a different plan.

I’d love to hear what you had in mind when you chose your child(ren)’s godparents.  Share your thoughts in the comments.

Be Intentional,


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Top Photo by Kristen Curette
Godmother Photo by Shaudia Sanders

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5 Comments

  1. May 5, 2016 / 12:04 pm

    Looks like you made some great choices in choosing Maddie's God mothers. And I agree…we as parents should prepare for our chidren in case something unexpected happens to us. Thanks for the reminder.

  2. May 5, 2016 / 12:50 pm

    I've never really known much about godparents, as I think it's a tradition that's not really a part of my culture. I do know that according to my parents' will I would be made the legal guardian for my younger siblings if anything happened to my parents–a fact I told my husband before we got married, since I had 6 siblings who were all minors at the time I figured he ought to know, just in case.

  3. May 5, 2016 / 3:57 pm

    This is very interesting because I always did think it was so that someone would be appointed for custody if something happened to mom and dad. However, this never made much sense to me when typically there are family members that it would make more sense to assume that role. I love it how it brought people you are close to into your family.

  4. May 6, 2016 / 11:51 am

    I feel like In most cases, Godparents are just a title for your parents closest friends when you are born. Most of my close friends live reasonably far from me so I'm not sure who I will choose.

  5. May 6, 2016 / 5:15 pm

    My niece and nephew have the same godparents, something I didn't think was "allowed." But I know why these two people were chosen: 1 was the spiritual guide, he'd make sure they went to church, and the other was the secular one. Each kid has both influences.

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