Taking a quick jump forward in our story this week because this is too exciting to wait to share. July 24, 2016 Trevor I were baptized! I’m so blessed to have been baptized right after my husband. There are not enough words to describe how joyful this day was but I will try.
The whole week leading up to the baptism I was so excited. It was much like a little child looking forward to Christmas but even better!
Sunday morning I sat down with our 4 year old and 2 year old boys to talk to them about what mommy and daddy were going to do. I said that after church we were going to go to a park to have a picnic. But before we had our picnic mommy and daddy were going to get in the river with some other people and get baptized. We were going to get dunked under the water and come back up. Then I said mommy and daddy have chosen to do this because we love Jesus and have been saved by His grace so we want everyone to know.
Little did I know our 4 year old really let that sink in. He loves Jesus and asks many questions about being saved, and being a friend to Jesus. He quickly shared with everyone that day that mom and dad got wet in the water because they are saved!
As we got to the par
k that afternoon I couldn’t believe it was finally here! I just wanted to be down waiting at the river for my name to be called. The church handed out these awesome baptism shirts to everyone getting baptized.
I love this shirt. The words are so simple but speak so loudly for what we were about to do. It says Death. Burial. Resurrection. Our sins die and are buried with Christ and we are made new in Him.
The water was absolutely freezing as I stepped in. I’m glad I took the pastors advice to adjust to the temperature before I got baptized. It really made it so there wasn’t a shock factor when I was dunked.
Trevor was called over first. I walked over and stood on the side for his baptism. They asked Trevor if he believed that Jesus was his Lord and Savior and if he’d been saved by grace. Then he answered yes and they baptized him. As his wife I was too busy beaming with joy to even cheer as he was baptized.
I love how Trevor came out of the water with his hand held high praising the Lord. That picture sums up Trevors conviction. It shows how he loves Jesus and worships Him. Trevor has a bold heart for God and truth. It was this I saw in him when we first met that made me so quickly fall in love with him.
After Trevors turn it was finally mine! I stood between the two pastors. On my left was the head pastor of our church. On my right stood the pastor who spoke with Trevor and I that rainy May day at Trevor’s mothers house. The pastor God used that first night to talk to us about the differences between Mormonism and Christianity. It was so special to me that he was one of the two who baptized me. The head pastor asked me the same question he had asked everyone before me. Had I accepted Jesus as my Lord
and Savior? Yes!! Then we baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. I don’t remember feeling the shock of the cold water as I went in or anything really. I was very focused on what I was doing. As I stood back up I felt this overwhelming joy! This burning joy in my heart. I felt that this joy could beam off of me for miles!
I was so excited. Trevor was right there to take my hand and we hugged as we started to walk back off to the side together.
This picture is one of my favorites. We were just beaming as we watched everyone else get baptized. It was so cool to see that most the group were adults who had come to accept Jesus as we had. I did love seeing the handful of kids who chose to be baptized. They are so blessed to grow up in a Christian home
As everyone had completed being baptized we sang the first verse of “Amazing Grace”. This song means so much to both Trevor and I now.
“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now I’m found,
Was blind, but now I see.”
If you could sum up our journey in just a few words it would be those words.
So why did we get baptized if it’s not a saving ordinance? To declare to the world we have been saved by grace and are followers of Jesus. There are no ordinances to being saved. No steps. Just only to believe in Jesus as I talked about a few blogs ago in Born Again.
In a culture that is so full of religion I feel it is so important for me to declare publicly where I stand. That it is with Christ. That I believe He alone has saved me. That the gospel as He teaches it in the New Testament is the gospel. The simple good news.
Jesus died for me in public so I want to live for Him in public. In church we’ve been talking about if it were against the law to be Christian would there be enough evidence to convict me. I hope that as we are living for Jesus publicly there will always be the evidence.
We have just Mormonism and don’t know how to tell our children and grandchildren………… I met my lovely wife while on my mission in 1971 We were married in the Oakland Temple July 26, 1975. If you have any suggestions We would love to hear them. Sincerely your brother in the TRUE Christ.. Russell and Carmen Hayes
Praise the Lord! I love to hear of others who come to know who He truly is. I’d love to hear more of your story of how you came to find Jesus.
Its not easy to tell family. I felt like I had to have all the answers when in fact I didn’t. My family ended up not wanting to discuss why I left and in time I hope they will want to. I told them that we had started to attend a Christian church and that we had chosen to walk with God alone and not with a religion. I shared of who I was learning He really is through the bible and for those who listened past this point I asked them to read the New Testament without preconceptions.
I’d love to hear how it goes sharing the news. Praying for you and your family through this transition. I pray God with open your children hearts to truth!