I am a Tree

Woke up this morning, pleased to be going to worship with the church and learn something meaningful.

I love singing with a group of people who also recognize the smallness of our lives and desire to love the God who loves us. And it was good this morning, as it always is when I grasp that something bigger than me is going on. The pastor and several folks that got baptised last weekend had a conversation about baptism and the impact on their lives.

I was baptised as a baby. I have seen a few baptisms since then. I have always known it was commanded by Jesus, yet I always had this ridiculous thought in my mind that it wasn't that important. I think it was mostly my pride. I just never did it. In Peru, most of my team was baptized in the Amazon River as I watched, yet I never thought about it. I never did it in the giant bathtub. I just didn't. I have no excuse for not obeying.

For the past week and half, I have felt something missing in my relationship with God. There is a bunch of garbage I am coming to terms with in my life. I am accepting that it is there, and seeing how it screws around with the rest of my life and the lives of the people around me. But, I have also felt like I don't know what to do NOW. In these last two weeks before my surroundings change, do I just wait for that time to come? What do I do now?

So the sermon/conversation ends. I am thinking about how I would like to get baptised, but there has never been an opportunity that I was willing to participate in. Then, the pastor explains that God talked to him earlier in the week telling him to be ready to baptise people this weekend. So, he bought a pool (and shirts, shorts, flip flops, underwear, hair crap, make-up remover). They tried to get rid of any excuse people could make not to get baptised. Then he invited anyone to go change into some clothes and let the world know they were in love with God.

I could feel my heart beating real fast, getting a little shaky. The band started playing a song and everyone started singing. I wasn't thinking about worship. I was thinking: this is my second week at this church, I don't know anyone, my parents aren't here, I don't know the pastor WAIT why not? I need to do this. I want to do this. I'm in love with God and God's in love with me. This is who I am and this is who I'll be. That settles it. Completely.

I looked at my brother and we both kind of said "You wanna do it?"

You know the rest of the story, I think.