Word Girl's Baptism

"A girl needs to be so lost in God, that the guy is going to have to seek HIM to find her!" ...Maya Angelou

Seeking Him Part 4

If you missed Parts 1, 2, & 3 click on the links to read.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

When we left off in Part 3, I had just given my life to Christ. Immediately after that I asked God to explain baptism to me. It went something like this:

"Ok Lord, about this baptism stuff, is this something You really want me to do? Is it just symbolic? Am I supposed to get dunked in water or is that not necessary after the Holy Spirit came? And if You do want me to do this, what is the right way? Do I do this in a lake? Should I go to a church? If I'm supposed to do this then I need you to take me to the right place or bring the right person to me. One thing though, I do not want to be baptized into a religion, I only want to be baptized into Jesus Christ."

I'm a pretty straight forward person and I've never really seen any reason not to be with God. He knows it all anyway so why waste time. I had issues with religions. I did not ever want to be viewed as a religion, but only as a Christian. Please don't take offense to that, it was because of my past experiences and my desire to be sure it was for God and God alone. I know many people now that are affiliated with a denomination and are true Christians.

That very week, my daughter made a new friend at school. This was in the middle of the school year, an unlikely time to make a new friend. She was not like anyone my daughter had ever chosen as a friend, either before that time or after. Not that there was anything more positive or negative about this girl than Nik's other friends, she just didn't "match" my daughter's personality and it struck me as unusual.

The girls wanted to get together so her mom called me and asked if Nikki and I wanted to do something with her and her daughter. This too was unusual. So we did get together several times over the next couple of weeks. This girl's mom was very nice but again was not a "match" to my personality either but we still kept getting together for the girls.

She never mentioned God or church but I began sensing that this was how God was going to answer my prayer about baptism. I didn't say anything to her but decided to just watch and wait for God to show me. It was kind of exciting to me because it felt like God and I had a secret that no one else knew about.

Sure enough this lady invited me to come to church and I accepted. It was a non-denominational church. The first pamphlets that crossed my hands explained baptism exactly answering every question as I had asked God, and in the way that I asked. This was also a church that baptized as soon as you made a public profession of faith. I didn't know at the time that some churches have classes you must take before being baptized. That would not have gone over with me at all, but God knew that. He brought me to the exact place that I needed to be and I had no doubt that He was telling me to be baptized. So on my third visit there I was baptized.

Shortly after that my daughter and her friend drifted apart and my friendship with this lady also came to a close. It was clear that this was the whole purpose for that friendship.

Lord thank you for going ahead of me and orchestrating my circumstances. Thank you for placing the right questions in my heart. Thank you that I can bring all of my questions to you no matter how silly and ignorant they may sound, and that you delight in answering. Thank you for allowing me to watch you work in my life and I pray that you will give me eyes to see you at work in my life daily. In Jesus Name ~ Amen

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." Corrie ten Boom

Full Immersion Baptism You Have to See

Lauren (Isn't she cute!)

For a period of time I had the pleasure of teaching a Kindergarten Sunday School class. I just loved it! We played games like "Follow Jesus" and "Jesus Says" (cause we don't know who Simon is and Jesus gives second chances). We had our Bible lesson, and snacks, and of course I took lots of pictures to make a class yearbook for each of the kids (parents) at the end of the school year.

Usually my friend Angela (not my blogging buddy) taught the lesson, but one Saturday afternoon she called me to tell me that she was sick and wouldn't be able to make it on Sunday. So I did what I could to quickly prepare for the lesson. Now, I had already studied the lesson just wasn't prepared to teach it. This lesson was from Acts 8, Phillip and the Ethiopian. I just love that when you prepare to teach a lesson, God always speaks to you personally about it first.

Overview of Acts 8:

God sends an angel to Phillip to instruct him to to go to a certain road in the dessert that travels from Jeruselem to Gaza, and Phillip does what he is told. When he gets there he meets this Ethiopian traveling along reading scripture and not understanding. He invites Phillip to ride with him and explain the scripture to him. Phillip presents the Gospel to him and just as he finishes they pass by some water. The Ethiopian wants to be baptized and so Phillip obliges, then God whisks Phillip away and the Ethiopian goes on his way rejoicing. (Keyword)

Now there's a lot in there worthy of discussion but what God impressed on me as I prepared for the lesson was that He always goes ahead of us and prepares the way. ALWAYS! So we sat down in our little group and just when we got to the part where the Ethiopian said "Why shouldn't I be baptized?" little Lauren, who was sitting right next to me, looked at me and said "I've never been baptized." So I asked her if she had ever asked Jesus to be the boss of her life and she said no. So I asked her if she wanted to do that and she said yes. (WooHoo) So we prayed and she asked Jesus to be the boss of her life. When her mom came to pick her up and I told her what had occured, she told me that she had been in worship praying for Lauren. Of course we both cried and we have a special friendship over this as do Lauren and I.

It was an awesome experience to watch God go ahead of me and prepare all of those circumstances just as he did with Phillip and that He prepared Lauren's heart to ask about baptism at the same point that the Ethiopian asked. God is Always Amazing!

So I wonder if the Ethiopian might have approached the baptism water with the same enthusiasm as this young boy in this video...

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. (Job 8:21)