As a Mom who fails daily but desires to see her children follow Christ, today was emotional. Something I have always dreamed about. Watching my boys take a huge step for Christ. Isaac told Nana today that being baptized made him a disciple of Christ. Now we need to work on his theology just a bit but for a 7 year old not a bad description. We have been telling him that God calls us to follow Him and after you do that you should be baptized. So in his mind the process was final. I loved this aspect of today. Watching my boys take this step but continue to pray that they show God's love to everyone they come in contact with.
Also today our family joined the church. For most this is something you do after you've been attending for a while. For us, this was a big step. We have been attending here for almost two years. It took us 6 months to go to the visitors lunch and over a year to go to the membership class. Then almost another 6 months to actually join. You could say we have a commitment issue.
It's more than that. We have baggage. Tons and tons of baggage. Baggage we need to sit down in order to do what He has called us to do. Today was the first step for us.
Six plus year ago, yes I told you we have commitment issues and we are slow, we were hurt. Hurt badly by people in a church. Bill and I knew that we would never turn away from God or His church but for a long but we didn't really want much to do with a local church. We never stopped attending church, we actually attended many over the past six years. We were apart of one that we enjoyed attending and apart of some we attended because it was easy to get lost and go unnoticed. There was no accountability. At the time we loved it. That is exactly what needed then yet our hearts longed for more but we're terrified.
God gave us an amazing little group of people to remind us how He intends life to be lived, as a body of believers. A family not but blood, but of a common love for Him. Real, true relationships. Slowly but surely we began to trust His people again. I am so thankful for that group of people He brought us for a period of time.
Fear has crippled us. Doubt of who He has called us to be has severely slowed us down. But God has softened our hearts and is guiding us in the next steps.
For us, today was so much more than joining a church. It was taking a step in the continued healing and restoration He is performing daily in our lives. It was a step in trusting and putting ourselves out there again after being hurt.
Lamentations 3:22-25
22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
to the one who seeks him;
