a powerful moment

Well hello, all three of my readers.

Just thought I'd share this. Not sure why it hit me so hard.

I came home for my frustratingly short Thanksgiving break yesterday and spent the day with my old friends from church. Naturally, as there was a Thanksgiving service that night, we went to it. There happened to be a baptismal that day. I'd seen dozens of them before; I knew the drill: hear story about everything God had done, show appropriate shock at some of the more graphic stories, applaud after the baptism was over, repeat.

Last night was different. Baptisms always mean more when you know the person being baptized (duh). I knew only one girl of the dozen or so being baptized, and even so, only barely. She was a friend of my sister's a few years back (and, ironically, the sister of a friend), and I'd worked on the Arrowhead with her last year, only talking to her maybe once. But her story hit hard.

It wasn't one of the classic 'I was a junkie for twenty years before I found God'-type stories. It wasn't one of the cliche' 'I was raised in the church and I just want to let everyone know how much God means to me' either.

It was pretty simple. She was raised Catholic but was never satisfied by it. Her family stopped going to church, and she still felt empty. She started going to Calvary, got a Bible and read it, fell in love with Christ, and got baptized at Calvary with her family watching. Her testimony ended with a declaration of how sincere her love for Christ was and her hope that her family would find that same love.

This hit me hard. I can't say I can relate fully--I was brought up in the church and was introduced to Christ by my parents, and as far as I know they haven't given up yet. But I knew what it was like to live in a largely faithless environment. I go to a huge state university. Sincere Christians are few and far between, and I wondered how on Earth we were supposed to show Christ to other people when the very idea of one religion being any more "correct" than any others is repulsive. Heck, the idea of religion is repulsive to many that don't want to worry about anything more serious than finding a party for next Friday night. I guess I was feeling a little overwhelmed.

Yet this girl, a high school junior, showed me, a college freshman something powerful. Christ was still working. I can't imagine how awkward or weird it must have been to have one member of the family turn so wholeheartedly to Christ...or maybe it wasn't awkward for this girl at all. To have the kind of faith that pursues Christ so passionately...I kind of envy her.

I was so thankful that I came home in time to see her baptized, and for God's reminder that, as mewithoutYou puts it, 'there are places that aren't here.' There is more than this world, and this girl has her heart set on getting the best out of her life...and afterlife. What a breath of fresh air.

I applaud you, Maddie. Congratulations on taking this huge step.

Thank you, God, for letting me witness it.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.