Today was the day of my Baptism!!!
I know that some of you are fist pumping with me here!!
So of course last night was spent preparing food for the luncheon we were holding after the service, last minute shopping and reviewing my testimony.
And reviewing….then went to bed and reviewed it in my head.
There just didn’t seem to be enough time for me to share everything God has given to me in this life so far. His works have been extraordinary to me.
Finally my busy mind did shut off and I slept for 4 hours and was woken up by my 7 year old excitedly letting me know it was my day to be dunked!!!! Whoohooo Mummy….get up we have to get ready.
It was 7am, service was at 11am.
So up gets (seriously grumpy, don’t talk to me yet) Mommy and the morning routine begins a bit earlier than expected. It turned out that we needed all that extra time though. As is wont to happen on a big day every small thing that could go wrong did.
We arrived at the church with plenty of time and I went to meet with the Pastors and the other 5 people being baptized. Yes folks there were 6 of us in total.
Isn’t that AWESOME?
We went through the trial run and I was feeling calm, praying every 10 minutes since waking had probably helped. We all joined together in prayer….that was calming and I was filled with emotion, my love for God and all he has done was overflowing from me.
It was now about 10 minutes until the service began and time to change. I had been told to wear a bathing suit with a T shirt and shorts over it. I knew I was being fully immersed in water so when choosing my attire black was the choice of color. There would be nothing pretty about a wet white Tshirt with all those fine folks watching.
The service begins, we baptizees (is that a word?) were behind a large black curtain to the side of the stage (probably not the right word for it) and we listened to the opening prayer and joined in some singing worship while pacing in small circles and fidgeting.
And then it came….my name was spoken, my good friend who is our Worship Pastor called me up to the podium to share my testimony.
For a second I was there behind the curtain and filled with fear and internal pressure! It was bizarre, I had gone from calm to deeply frightened in a few seconds.
I don’t know why but I looked at my sister, it was likely for just a nanosecond and it allowed me to breathe again and I lifted a prayer in earnest….just gave it up to my Lord yet again.
I took the first few steps and slowly felt calmer…I made it up the few steps to the podium.
I arranged my notes and finally raised my eyes to the congregation.
Shazam, that’s a ton of people out there!
Smiling faces, supportive faces of strangers and loved ones.
And so I shared with them all immediately how different the view was from up there….and they laughed…..and it calmed me more.
I shared my heart with these people, some Christian and some not.
To these people I came as close to being naked in public as I’m going to get.
Both with my inner self and outer.
Here I stood wearing an outfit I normally wouldn’t be caught dead in, no makeup retelling some very emotional things in my life.
And it was joyful!!!!
Because it wasn’t about me, it was God’s day, the day to shout out how He saved me!
Sharing my journey is always cathartic for me, it always teaches me but to date I haven’t been in a position to proclaim myself as a disciple for Christ specifically. It was a gift.
God gave me the words as I’m often told he will, and I was done speaking.
My sister came up at this point and said some amazing words to me, I was so emotional that I can’t remember them exactly but to sum it up she acknowledged that I’ve struggled and survived, that I accepted God’s grace. My sister told me I’m unique, that I’m wonderful!! That touched me soooo deeply. She shared a verse from Romans for me which moved me greatly.
Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is true worship.
Have I mentioned how much I love my sister and what an amazing support she has been for me over the years, even when I wasn’t looking for support?
Another cool thing she did was thank the congregation, she expressed her gratitude for those who prayed for me for years before even knowing who I am. I am so glad she did that, to those people I thank you here and hope to have the opportunity one day to do it in person.
Now was the big moment, getting into the tub and having my Pastor pray over me and then the dunking!!
Here is my humble moment, just before my Pastor dunked me, that one last moment of thanks to God!!
It’s a surreal moment which I’m finding difficult to describe. For so many years I had attended Baptismal services and celebrating with others and yet didn’t think I’d ever be worthy of it.
I just didn’t know how to see my life as a Christian woman….I couldn’t be perfect enough…I was incapable.
In this moment today I realized deep down that I knew….really truly knew that I was capable.
That I’m already living my life as a Christian woman and how fulfilled I am by this.
Each of the 6 people being baptized today had very different testimonies, each were impactful and filled with our love of God and our determination to serve Him well and share with others.
Upon exiting the chapel I was approached by many people I didn’t know until today who were so openly loving, celebrating this day with me. It was so friendly and joyful. Then my family and friends all enjoyed a yummy lunch together, we cleaned up together and headed home.
Once home Hubby and I took a moment to review the day together over coffee.
And then I had no words, just an inner peace.
I knew in this moment that I’ll never have a God-sized hole in my heart again!!!
What a beautiful testimony to God's beautiful mercy, grace and love. I was raised with a knowledge of God and His expectations from a young age. It wasn't until finally coming to a place of being at the end of my own abilities, being broken….and at the moment it felt like I was broken beyond repair….that Jesus came and wrapped His arms around me and said, "Finally, you are exactly where you need to be and I am here with you." It was truly a time of spiritual awakening for me. I have never felt such love and unconditional acceptance in my life. I loved reading about your dunking day. :o) Many many blessings be upon you. ((HUG))
Thank you for sharing this meaningful day. I hope to one day know the true peace that an unshakable faith in God can bring. I'm trying to pray everyday but sometimes find it hard. I hope to get there one day. Thanks also for sharing the photos. For the record I think you look fab x
Congratulations, Julie. Go with God.
Welcome into God's grace-filled family. A beautiful share in this post. Through it all, God is good!!Jerimiah 29:11~d
What an emotional, awesome day. Yay for getting dunked!
Congratulations and best wishes in your continued journey!
Oh Julie, I am grinning ear to ear reading your story! What a blessed weekend you had. :) God is so good and it is so wonderful to hear how He has filled your heart and your life. I am getting baptized on April 23rd, so reading this was very insightful. God bless, sister in Christ! :):):):)
Julie, this is awesome. I know we've both had our ups and downs in life but I'm so glad we both made it out safely to this side. Congratulations. Sisters are we!
Congratulations! You made me cry tears of joy for you. Good thing I have a mirror in my office because right now I would probably scare people to death. Thank you for sharing this awesome day with us. May the Lord Bless you and Keep you, May he make his face shine upon you and may you always be filled with his peace! Hugs….
@Annette, it sounds like you and I were saved at exactly the same moment…that moment where we felt broken beyond repair.@MATA I'll be praying for you to "feel" God and thanks for the kind words on my attire lol@Kristen, as always, thanks for being you@~Dawn, thank you for that verse, I'm so grateful I'm living by His Plan now@KLZ rock on sista@Dawn, thank you@Robin, I'm so exicted for you!! I'll be watching for your Baptism blog :)@ Lisa my dear friend from childhood, thank you for posting…I'm soooo adding you on facebook!@ dry my sister from another mother thank you for sharing your feelings with me! Glad you have a mirror too, nothing like scary raccoon eyed girl to get the office laughing
how beautiful julie :) brought tears to my eyes
YAY GOD!!!! I'm so excited that you shared this and that you experienced this!!! :) YAY!!!
Congrats! I remember the day I became born again – very similar experience. Other than that:1. You look beautiful! I love your hair. and2. Fist pumping? Totally. Why? Because I'm coming back in my next life as a Guidette, Jersey style. Seriously.
That was a beautiful, honest story. Thank you for sharing.
Congratulations! What an amazing, honest experience to share. It is a gift to read about someone else's journey to peace. Thank you for sharing and thank you for commenting on my blog so I know where to find you:)
That was incredibly touching, and what a wonderful thing to share with us.
OK, beautiful woman: 2 blogs you must follow.@edenland who just completed 30 days of sobriety and @maggiedammit who has finished up at least 2, I think.oh,and Heather of the EO.MUST GET TO KNOW THEM. THEY are GENEROUS beyond words.
I wish I could respond individually, I'll have to look for that widget but thanks everyone