Baptized Into Christ

After a great weekend in Hot Springs, Arkansas, we arrived home about 8:00pm on the evening of Sunday, October 23rd. Chris had gone to Braum's to get milk, the kids were in bed, and I was busy unpacking my suitcase from our adventure. Just before 9:00pm, Brianna came into my room, and I could immediately tell by the look on her face that something was up.

I asked her what was going on, and she said, "I need to be baptized." I just kind of looked at her, took a deep breath, and said, "Okay, let's have a seat on the bed and talk." I knew she knew the "mechanics" of baptism, but I wanted to ask a few questions to make sure she truly understood what it was about. We talked until Chris got home about 15 minutes later, then he sat and talked with her for a few minutes. We both felt that she knew exactly what she wanted to do, and that she was ready. At that point, I don't think we could have talked her out of it had we tried. 

I called my dad to invite them to meet us at the church building, and he suggested that instead of driving all the way to Oologah we should just come to their house and baptize her in their jacuzzi tub. We also called Russ and Lisa and invited them to join us. We got the younger kids out of bed, loaded up in the van, and drove over to Mom and Dad's.

They had almost everything prepared when we got there, and Russ, Lisa, and Chloe arrived just a few minutes later. Chris, Dad, and Brianna all agreed that Dad would baptize her, and at 9:39pm she was baptized into Christ and raised to walk in newness of life!

We sang a song and had a prayer immediately following her baptism. Praise God for redemption!

When she came into my room and said she wanted to be baptized, I was definitely caught off guard. We talk about baptism frequently as the subject comes up, but I didn't realize she was already seriously thinking about being baptized. As I've thought about it more, I think it was kind of a perfect storm of events that really got her considering it for herself. A few weeks ago we went to a Ladies' Day where we studied Galatians 5:19-21 in depth. There have also been a few lessons at church recently regarding salvation, and her friend, Kyrie, was very recently baptized as well. 

From the time she was born, I have been praying for this day for Brianna. I am so grateful and happy for her decision to be part of the everlasting kingdom of God!