i lift my eyes up

"what shall we say, then? shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? by no means! we died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into christ jesus were baptized into his death? we were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the father, we too may live a new life.

if we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. for we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been freed from sin." romans 6:1-7

i think these verses speak volumes about our walks with christ. if you have decided to accept christ you are "a new creation" & baptism is an amazing outward expression of the inward transformation that is going on in your heart. you have been brought from death to life, from darkness to light. what a gracious god we have! {2 cor 5:17, acts 26:17-18}

two sundays ago i had the huge blessing of seeing my mom, stephanie get baptized. god is so good. it is amazing to see him at work in my family. like i've said so many times before, he has big plans!

it was a beautiful day, a great day to get down in the water be united with christ. this is the pond at southland. mom said that the water was awfully cold, but no one said that dying was easy...right?

this is the gigantic line of people waiting to be washed in the water. i think they baptized about 200 people this sunday. it was 3:00 in the afternoon. i can't help but think that the lord was looking down at all these precious children of his smiling as they run towards him. i like to imagine the party that the angels were having for each soul that comes home, like the party held for the prodigal son.

all these folks on the hill are the fans. many came to support loved ones {like my entire family & my good friend jenna}, many came just to support this big step in the lives of their brothers & sisters in christ.

mom is in the middle walking to her "dunker"

they talked to each person being baptized for a few minutes each. i thought that it was great that they spent individual time with each person. it wasn't an assembly line of baptisms; it was personal experience. i loved that. it is such a significant event in a person's life, i love that it is treated that way.

mom's crying. no surprise there.

about to take the plunge

what a blessing to be a witness to the work of the lord in BIG ways. i am so proud of momma steph for seeking & chasing after what is important to her. i pray that the lord will use this as a milestone in her life that will continually remind her of his faithfulness. i pray that knowing she is saved by grace will spur her on daily.

happy baptism with sound {click here}