Today was a busy day, too busy really as I’m seriously exhausted and trying to convince my daughters it was bedtime at 6pm….no dice unfortunately.
But it was a great day.
Woken up too early by my 7 year old I performed our normal morning routine of getting myself ready, waking my youngest with words of love whispered to her, then speaking a bit louder and approximately 15 minutes later firmly letting her know that she is not allowed to ignore her Mama or ask again for 5 more minutes to snuggle.
Did I mention she’s 5?
Brekkie, lunches made, bags packed, snow gear on the kids and hubby gets them out to school and I was off to physio therapy for the painful stuff they tell me will heal me.
Then to the school to get my youngest and next pick up my friend and off to the church we merrily go.
Why were we heading to the church on a Friday instead of resting to recover from physio you ask?
Why to set up for MY Baptism on Sunday of course!!
Yes it’s true this ego driven, sinful creature has been SAVED in case you haven’t noticed (cough, cough) and I’m celebrating it with the world on Sunday.
I’m going to share with you all an excerpt from my church’s website which clearly explains why I’m choosing to be baptized.
What is Baptism?
I’ve had the desire to be baptized for years, my belief in God has always been strong, even during times when I was pulling away from Him. It was a hugely daunting idea in the past, I knew that on that day when I did finally stand in front of the congregation and declare myself as a disciple of Jesus I’d be letting go of everything I valued at that time. I would no longer define success by the amount of money I made, by being the “best” at whatever sport I was doing at the time, by being popular, having nice things….on and on. I knew that eventually the day would come when my life would change…..but I avoided it. I tried to convince myself that living a life dedicated to glorifying God looked boring, I looked down my nose at it, condescended to those who claimed to lead it. They must be a bit dim or at least wearing blinders. Life just isn’t that simple, they mustn’t have the killer instinct and go-getter drive I did! I lied to myself like this for years. I flat out denied my inner beliefs and allowed my ego and greed to rule the day for far too long. Then as you all have read in previous blogs I got sick and tired, turned to God and he brought me to AA and sobriety. The day came when God convicted me, when I knew it was time and that I was ready to share my story and love for God and his grace in my little slice of the world so I didn’t hesitate. I was confident, certain in this. But still scared in the back of my mind. Scared that I’ll share too much, what if I couldn’t find the words, …..it was the unknown. Rather than let my fears grow I reflected on my life, specifically the changes in the last year and saw how this isn’t the unknown. I’m already living a life filled with Jesus, enjoying a truly amazing Relationship with Him, now I’ll just be sharing that. Generally speaking I live my life out loud, up front and present these days so I quashed those fears with my faith and knowledge that I am fulfilling a command of my Lord and if this causes me a bit of discomfort then so be it. My baptism will serve as a symbol of the burial of my old self and the resurrection of my soul to walk in life with Christ. So today while we were setting up the room at the church for the lunch we will be holding following the service I paused to look around and enjoy the moment, to enjoy the simple yet elegant centerpieces we had made.  There was no stress. There was peace at all the change in my life, I felt serenity and courage to face the questions I know many of my friends and family will have….in fact I welcome them. Isn’t that wicked cool? |
Definitely cool…Bravo!
Wow – congratulations Julie! :D
This is beautiful, Julie. I will be thinking of you on Sunday.
Bless you Julie. You will be in my thoughts and prayers tomorrow.
yay! congratulations! yes, that's very cool!
Thank you everyone, the Baptism was WONDERFUL and then we enjoyed a wonderful lunch of celebration with a great group of friends.