Baptism

It was a big weekend for us. Today, I baptized J.R. J.R. believes in Jesus, and has committed to making Him the leader and forgiver of his life. J.R. asked that I be the one to immerse him, and it was such an honor to do so. When I was a kid, we went to church on a regular basis. I liked it. I liked Sunday School, I love Vacation Bible School and I was even in the choir. Then one day, we (my mom, sister and I) decided to stop going. I went back a couple of times one summer while I was in college, then for 6 months or so when I lived in Reading. I never stopped believing in Jesus, I just don't think I truly realized the sacrifice He made for me. I started attending again on a regular basis about 4 years ago, and haven't looked back since. I was offered the opportunity to be baptized by immersion, but for some reason, it was a difficult decision for me, so I didn't do it then. When I moved to Philly I didn't join a new church right away. When J.R. first moved in with me, he wasn't going to church. He told me he'd like to someday, but he wasn't ready. It was a few weeks after he moved in that I started attending Christ's Church of the Valley. About 6 months later, J.R. joined me. He came with me about every other week for a while. Then, we went every week. We even joined a Home Team (small group/bible study). I decided I wanted to be baptized, but there was always some reason why I didn't do it... the days the church was offering a service was bad date, I wasn't ready, we were travelling that weekend, whatever. I finally said - I need to do this. So last January, I had my bestest bud Kelly baptize me. It was her church I started attending regularly before I moved to Philly, and her friendship, support and influence, and watching her and her family live happily as a Christian family, that helped me realize I wanted to follow Christ. It wasn't long after when J.R. decided to accept communion. Then Ben was born, and let me tell ya, if you don't believe in God before you witness the birth of your child, you will in that first moment you hold in your arms that tiny little being you helped create. J.R. and I are best friends. Our marriage, our son, our growing faith helped J.R. (and myself) understand he wanted to follow Christ as well. So, he took the plunge - literally. His mom, dad and brother came up, and our friends Rob, Michele and Abbey came as well. Rob, Michele and Abbey are also newly baptized and it's been fun having other friends getting to know Christ as the same time as us. There were also some friends from church who hung around - Jody, Al and Georgia, Leanne. It was an honor being able to baptize my husband. I'm thrilled we are now taking this journey together, and I'm so proud of him. I forgot my camera, so when I get some pictures from the others that had cameras, I'll post them.

A couple of other cool things about today - first, we saw two couples in church that we haven't seen for ages. Al and Georgia, who used to be in our old Home Team, and Mike and Sharon, and little Otillie. J.R. and Mike travelled in similar circles years ago, and we've seen them in church a few times. We started to get to know them a bit, but their lives have been really busy so we haven't seen them since I was still pregnant. We also saw two couples from our old Home Team (one at church and one at the restaurant) who congratulated J.R. It was really neat that today was the day we happened to see old friends. The other cool thing was the sermon was about God having a dream for us. Sometimes we think to follow our dreams we'll go from point A straight to point B, but in reality, that line has more turns and curves than we imagined, if we even get to point B. Instead we might not want point B anymore and move on to point C. In the end, we are better off at C, than if we arrived at B. That's God's dream. God dreamed J.R. would be baptized, which means I was meant for J.R.'s life. Boy is that a blessing.