In January of this year I was baptized. It was my choice. My heavily thought about, considering all
avenues, pondered for months (and years when I really look back) choice. In
Revelations 3:20 Jesus says, “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I
will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”
I had to really listen and drown out all the noises of this
world before I could hear, but the knock was there. I chose to open the door because I wanted to
have Him in my life, guiding me, helping me and being the ultimate friend. In order to do that I had to put away and
close the door on many things in my previous earthly centered life. A lot of baggage was there. A lot of hurt, frustration, some pain, envy,
idolatry of money, status and position cluttered and polluted my life. It didn’t happen over night. It was a slow move of discovering a little
more with time and then shuffling things into the hidden piles of what truly is
important and what I have been taught is important from the world.
January 28th was my big day. In so many ways this was a bigger day than
any I had had before because without this choice everything else I have had was
for not. I was baptized as a baby and I
want to be clear in saying that it is not bad, or void, when parents get their
babies baptized. I think it can be a
wonderful and amazing profession the parents are saying to God, and everyone
else, that “this child of mine will, indeed, be raised with Jesus Christ in
their heart and home and I have these people, the God parents, to help guide us
along the way.”
I was nervous, but SO ready for this.
The girls were excited and ready to watch mommy up on stage
and go through this. We had read books
about it and talked and talked. I think
they understood, to the best of their little minds, what was happening. They did not get to see their daddy baptized
at the spontaneous baptism last spring, so this was special and a reminder of
what daddy did as well.
After the video testimonies ran and the song came on
(“Rooftops”), it was time to do this. We
all had slips of paper that we wrote things on from our old life that we were
letting go of. They were pinned to the
cross before we entered the pool and so we could enter our new life free of
them and, more importantly, with the freedom to fully live in the light and be
guided by Him without the chains from our past pulling us back.
Then it was time and in just a few short seconds I was
baptized. The old was gone and the new
was here. Steve Poe, our head pastor,
always tells us that water baptism is an outward expression to all of those
that we love and know of an inward change that has taken place. I am not sure if I can pinpoint when my
inward change happened. I think it was
much more broad stoke than just a moment.
But, when I came up out of the water it was proof to myself of the
change I had made and it was accountability to that change and choice.
(A great pastor, Mark Crull, baptized me and the words going across the screen are the lyrics to the song being sung)
(There I go!)
Though I didn’t have any family there that day, outside of
Brian and the girls, I did have many friends.
Friends that had introduced me to the church, friends that I met along
the way, friends outside of the church that were just there to support me,
friends that planted seeds long ago and didn’t know how or when they would grow. They were there celebrating with me. The 30 plus of us went to Bucca’s afterwards
and stayed until they closed the place down.
We ate until our bellies hurt, laughed until they hurt even more and
just sat together on a special day, sharing a great moment.
The loooong table of us all!
Matt and Angela
Stacy and Ryan
Katie and Konrad
Cathy
Bryan and Ron
Jason and John. John and I had known each other for a little while and were blessed to have been baptized together that day. He made the experience even more special.
Nikki and Chris
My Super Hero
My Gifts
Lana being silly as usual and Jason was the victim this time.
I feel so much better on the other side of this experience
and am so thankful for every blessing and crooked, stray path that then led me
back onto the road I was intended. I am
excited for the future and Skyla told us, just a week ago, that she is ready
and would like to be baptized the next time it is offered. My experience was amazing, but to see my
daughter go through it will be incredible.
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