What a day for a Baptism

There's just something about it. I can't explain it. I've tried to a couple people, but I come up short and I usually end up sputtering out cliche phrases and rhetoric that doesn't even come CLOSE to what my heart is trying to say. But as much as I can, I will recap our church baptism service in a bulleted list (which will hopefully help with readability).

- I got the chance to baptize my wife. Two words: Uh-Mazing. For me, it was such a blessing to baptize her because of the heart of the woman in the water. In addition to her declaring in front of our church that she is a dedicated follower of Jesus, she was telling them that she is committed to the church that has believed in me to lead the 7th and 8th graders. She was saying to me and them that she believes in me and even though she tells me that A LOT, it was an amazing feeling to see her do it in this way. I love you, Amber.

- I also had the opportunity to baptize my two cousins (both of which are in 8th grade and in my ministry). Watching them grow up and having them use me as a jungle gym when they were younger, this also has a special place in my heart. Having a unique perspective on their stories because I've had a front-row seat for most of it, it was hard for me to hold it together as one of them broke reading the other's testimony. It has been an awesome experience so far having them in my ministry. Whether it's chats at Sam's, Kalahari, Beyond, Echoing Hills, I'm SO proud of them and am looking forward to seeing where God leads them in the years to come.

- During the summer, we had talked about The Church on Sunday morning and one of the application points was identifying with the Head of the Church (Jesus) through baptism. And that day I challenged the 7th and 8th graders to lead the church and show up in a big way by having at least 10 students get baptized at the upcoming service (which was 3 days ago). We had some good interest, but I wasn't sure what that would translate into as far as people actually getting in the water. I was BLOWN AWAY at how the students took the challenge. And overall, with students either as a family, with a sibling, or by themselves, there were 11 7th and 8th graders who got in the water and declared publicly that Jesus was their savior and they wanted to live for Him. Way to go, students!

- What a day for a baptism. What a day for Student Ministries. What a day for our church. If you've got any stories or anything, please feel free to leave them in the comments section.