Baptism

Yesterday was such an amazing day. One of those times where I'm so thankful to be here even though I'm far from my family and loved ones. It was pretty much a typical day for a student, I took an exam, went to work and came home to do some laundry. The laundry room is on the second floor of our building, so while I was waiting for my clothes I was hanging out in the study area (we call it the living room) with some of my fellow Washington Hall residents; and after a few minutes two more of my friends, Mike and Dylan, two very sweet and amazingly Godly men, came by and they looked absolutely giddy, almost like school girls. They probably wouldn't like it if they knew I was explaining it that way, but I think it is the best description. Well, needless to say we asked them what was up and in turn they asked us if we wanted to go to a baptism. Of course I was like "heck yeah I do"! :) So we grabbed our cameras and headed down to the building pool for a baptism.

Earlier in the evening a group of the guys were sort of having a guys night. They had dinner together and some serious talks about the Lord and the church and life. Part of this deep conversation was about baptism and two of the guys in the group shared that they had never been baptized. They both grew up Catholic and so they had the water sprinkled on them as babies, but never submerged. After talking it through they prayed about it as a group and after the prayer they decided why not do it tonight, they had access to the pool and Dylan happened to be the baptism pastor at his old church. They felt led by the Holy Spirit and so they listened.

Down at the pool we all gathered in a circle and prayed over the guys and then they each shared a brief testimony. After that they got into the cold pool water (it has actually been cool here at night) and Dylan baptized them. After a round of hugs we sang praises to Jesus and then went inside for some celebratory snacks and fellowship.

I was so honored to be a part of that event in their lives. It was so cool to see them light up with the love of Jesus. I know my words are not expressing what an amazing evening it was, but hopefully it gives you a little taste of how great God is. Everyday I'm a little more thankful that I'm here and this definitely added to that feeling. I'm so grateful God has given me this time to process, learn and grow while surrounded by some amazing, amazing people. After Chris, one of the guys that got baptized, got out of the pool he said, "we are a family here and let us not just pass by each other with a hello in the elevator, but let us be real and hold each other accountable and share in each others trials and triumphs". He went on some more, but that is the kind of community that God has blessed me with for this time and I could not be more thankful. I am deeply humbled by how great He is.