On July 15, I got to work a little before 7:00. I was speaking to a colleague in my office when I noticed a call from Columbus. Thinking it was spam, I let the call go to VM. After I met with my colleague, I saw the caller left a message. I listened to the message and discovered it was the Dean from Round Lake Christian Camp. He explained my daughter. had decided to be baptized on the last day of camp and wanted to make sure we were ok with it. I quickly called back and had to leave a message on his VM, but I couldn’t speak! I tried to leave a message and suddenly began crying! From where did those emotions come? I muddled out, “I don’t usually get emotional like this” (I didn’t want to admit weakness).
I walked outside at work for better cell reception, and so no one could see me crying, and my co-worker, whose daughter went to Rivertree and was at the same week of camp as my daughter, pulled in. He had just received the same news about his daughter.
We walked into the office, and we were both happy. As we were reminiscing, we heard the “Love Shack” song by the B52s, and my colleague stated, I am so happy right now, “I normally hate this song, but I don’t mind it now.” We made a few dad baptism Jokes like, “we may want to hold them down a little longer to make sure it takes.” We won’t even talk about the emotions that flowed when I found out she wanted me to be the baptizer.
15 kids were baptized Friday night. My daughter remained close. It was kind of rainy, but the sun was sort of shining at the same time, and as the drops hit the water gently, the clouds parted and the sun shown down with a beacon of sun rays shining down on my daughter and the others. She smiled and said that God was shining on her, and I know He was.
The following day, she woke up, and my son said to her, “So, how was the first night sleeping after being baptized?”
She was excited to take her first communion, so she skipped the first half of Sunday school and participated in adult worship. She stated, “This grape juice is the best!”
The next day was Monday, and my co-worker walked into the office. Looking at me, he said, “is your daughter acting exceptionally different since being home from camp?” I laughed and said she is eager to memorize all the books of the bible and is walking around very joyful, peaceful, and happy.” He said, “I can’t lie, we may have got extra chores done around the house.”
Think back for a moment. Remember when you first believed? Do you remember the moment you accepted Christ, the moment you confessed? How about your baptism or the moments after a week of camp or a great retreat? Those moments are unique because they represent times we are wholly focused on Christ. We were deeply connected. Our God was big in our lives. Our father was all-knowing. He was all-forgiving. He was everywhere, and He was bigger than anything. Nothing was impossible for Him in our lives. In Psalm 51:12, David prayed that God would restore to him the joy of his salvation. He was asking that he would enjoy the fellowship with God he once knew.
The last time I spoke during communion, I talked about emotional intelligence—the ability to recognize and control our emotions as Christians.
May we remember the love of Christ during this time of communion. May we remember the power of His resurrection. When we are at our best focusing on Christ, emotions seem to stabilize in the right direction, and nothing else matters. He will bring us to happy tears that will leave us speechless. Annoying songs will become less bothersome. We will be motivated to learn more about His word, we may get more done around the house, and we will be more aware of His presence. During those God moments, the clouds open up, the sun shines through, and we know that, yes, indeed, God is with us.
Let’s pray.
No comments:
Post a Comment