Cannonball in the Holy Jacuzzi!
Steve began talking to me about getting baptized over a year ago. We had been discussing it since I renewed my commitment to Christ at the See You At The Pole concert. The idea never seemed very convincing to me and always left me uneasy and I was never quite sure why. I finally came to the conclusions that I wasn't where I wanted to be as a christian so I wasn't ready to make a commitment like that. I also didn't feel like my youth group/church was the family that they were suppossed to be. At that time I didn't even know half the names of the kids I saw every Wednesday and those that I were close to had left.
This isn't to say that I didn't have friends in the youth group and that I didn't enjoy going to church and learning about God. For awhile I was just hopping around and even started going to church down the street with Ashli which was enjoyable; but I still loved the leaders at my church and couldn't stay away from their lessons.
So there were ups and downs in my church life that left me with an indecision about getting baptized. All that changed on our mission trip to Tampa. Since it was a small group we had this awesome opprotunity to fellowship and I had an such an amazing time hanging out with the people who went on the trip with me. We had a chance to bond through experiences that we wouldn't of had at home. Not only that, but the way that we saw God working blew my mind. Worship sessions were intense (that is the only word to describe it) and during the day we found such joy and pleasure in being servants.
One night we learned about being a passionate christian vs. and emotional christian. Everyone in our little group decided that they were emotional but that we all wished to be passionate. This lesson, along with our lesson about martars was still fresh in my mind when we found ourselves sitting around a fountain in downtown Tampa during our free day. Already we had went to the arcade and played video games for the last several hours and were sitting down trying to decide on our next activity with little luck.
So while we are sitting there I half jokingly say to Steve (because he had mentioned my baptism yet again only the night before) "Hey Steve, why don't we baptism me here" Of course the rest of my group is amazed that I hadn't be baptised yet and think that it would be so awesome for me to do it here in front of all these people.
So Steve has access to a microphone, I have a change of clothes in the van, eveyone is pumped up and my pants are rolled up to my knees. Then, thinking that this might be somewhat illegal we find these on duty security rent-a-cop kind of deals and explain the situation to them in hopes that we can go through with our plan. They tell Steve two things:
"Yes you can do it but..."
1. That is recycled toliet water and she will get sick if she gets in it because once they turn off the fountain the water is so cloudy that you can't see three inches to the bottom. And...
2. We will have to arrest you
This is where my lovely friends bring up this statement, "The martars, the martars. Think about the martars. They faced jail and death."
Needless to say, as much as we wanted to go through with it we did not at that time. Little did I know, God was working it out. So I come home from Tampa and continue to grow. I became much closer to people in my bible study and youth group, started reading my bible and got more involved in church activities. So things are moving ahead and I have this relationship with God and with my youth group (the two things previously holding me back from getting baptised).
So Steve and I set up a date for me to dunked. When I told my mom my plans she bacame extremely upset that I didn't include her in decision and the baptism was called off. She was so angry with me that I wasn't even sure I wanted to get baptised anymore. Yet again God was working it out.
Two weeks later, after including her in the plans, it was decided that I would be baptised. Now this is how cool it ended up being. God knows what he is doing. I got to be baptised with Taylor who I went on the missions trip with to Tampa. That wasn't the only awesome blessing. The absolutly coolest thing was that after church who comes running towards me with open arms? Stephanie Adams! I couldn't believe my eyes. There has been some trouble at her church lately and they were checking out other churches. Of course she deciedes to come to ours on the day that I happened to be baptised! A-MAZE-ING.
So it was great and I'm glad that I finally did it. It was a long time coming, but it worked out in the end and I am very pleased with it. I'm excited for what lay ahead knowing that God is gonna work it out.
This isn't to say that I didn't have friends in the youth group and that I didn't enjoy going to church and learning about God. For awhile I was just hopping around and even started going to church down the street with Ashli which was enjoyable; but I still loved the leaders at my church and couldn't stay away from their lessons.
So there were ups and downs in my church life that left me with an indecision about getting baptized. All that changed on our mission trip to Tampa. Since it was a small group we had this awesome opprotunity to fellowship and I had an such an amazing time hanging out with the people who went on the trip with me. We had a chance to bond through experiences that we wouldn't of had at home. Not only that, but the way that we saw God working blew my mind. Worship sessions were intense (that is the only word to describe it) and during the day we found such joy and pleasure in being servants.
One night we learned about being a passionate christian vs. and emotional christian. Everyone in our little group decided that they were emotional but that we all wished to be passionate. This lesson, along with our lesson about martars was still fresh in my mind when we found ourselves sitting around a fountain in downtown Tampa during our free day. Already we had went to the arcade and played video games for the last several hours and were sitting down trying to decide on our next activity with little luck.
So while we are sitting there I half jokingly say to Steve (because he had mentioned my baptism yet again only the night before) "Hey Steve, why don't we baptism me here" Of course the rest of my group is amazed that I hadn't be baptised yet and think that it would be so awesome for me to do it here in front of all these people.
So Steve has access to a microphone, I have a change of clothes in the van, eveyone is pumped up and my pants are rolled up to my knees. Then, thinking that this might be somewhat illegal we find these on duty security rent-a-cop kind of deals and explain the situation to them in hopes that we can go through with our plan. They tell Steve two things:
"Yes you can do it but..."
1. That is recycled toliet water and she will get sick if she gets in it because once they turn off the fountain the water is so cloudy that you can't see three inches to the bottom. And...
2. We will have to arrest you
This is where my lovely friends bring up this statement, "The martars, the martars. Think about the martars. They faced jail and death."
Needless to say, as much as we wanted to go through with it we did not at that time. Little did I know, God was working it out. So I come home from Tampa and continue to grow. I became much closer to people in my bible study and youth group, started reading my bible and got more involved in church activities. So things are moving ahead and I have this relationship with God and with my youth group (the two things previously holding me back from getting baptised).
So Steve and I set up a date for me to dunked. When I told my mom my plans she bacame extremely upset that I didn't include her in decision and the baptism was called off. She was so angry with me that I wasn't even sure I wanted to get baptised anymore. Yet again God was working it out.
Two weeks later, after including her in the plans, it was decided that I would be baptised. Now this is how cool it ended up being. God knows what he is doing. I got to be baptised with Taylor who I went on the missions trip with to Tampa. That wasn't the only awesome blessing. The absolutly coolest thing was that after church who comes running towards me with open arms? Stephanie Adams! I couldn't believe my eyes. There has been some trouble at her church lately and they were checking out other churches. Of course she deciedes to come to ours on the day that I happened to be baptised! A-MAZE-ING.
So it was great and I'm glad that I finally did it. It was a long time coming, but it worked out in the end and I am very pleased with it. I'm excited for what lay ahead knowing that God is gonna work it out.