Wow! What a fun morning!

Congratulations to Sierra, Robyn, Karissa, Lee, Michael, LeeAnn, Olivia, Keagan, Laura, Sophie, Drew, Chrystal, Jared, Zachary, Jazz, and Robbie for getting baptized! It’s a long, incredible list of people that mean the world to me. I am excited to watch their futures unfold before us and to see all the ways that God uses their lives.

We had a very busy weekend, so when Delaney got up Sunday morning and I put on her swimsuit again, she said, “Mom, I’ve been wearing this thing for three days!”

We got to see a lot of very important people in our lives over the last few days. Family, friends, mentors, and our church people. I think that my family is on an emotional overload! It will take a few days to get back to normal after all of the conversations, challenges, and the depth of emotion that you feel when you watch someone get baptized. I’ll post some pictures soon.

If you haven’t been baptized and you love Jesus as your Lord and Savior, it’s time. It’s not about having it all figured out and being perfect. That’s not the point of baptism at all. The point is to declare that all of your issues are being worked on by someone different now. You’re not capable of making yourself holy…God is. What an awesome testimony to the world that you are allowing the creator of the world to mold and shape you into who He wants you to be!

I hope that this day was special for you…it will never leave my heart or my memory!

Last night Kennedy was telling me about the world from her perspective. At one point she said, “God keeps us safe and so we won’t get hurt and we won’t die.” I thought to myself, “Man, I wish she was right.” Wouldn’t it be nice to become a Christian and be safe from all harm, hurt and disappointment? Wouldn’t it be something to throw out the bandaids, live with abandon, and never fear loss or dying? If the God we serve was a cosmic shield, there to fend off the bullets of the universe, wouldn’t that be perfect?

And yes, I do know that the God I serve is a provider and a protector. There is a facet of Him that has the power to keep me safe in any circumstance. But that doesn’t always mean that He does. Sometimes, whether it seems fair or right, we…well…die. We suffer loss. We feel pain. And it proves to us all over again that we don’t serve a magic genie there to grant all of our wishes.

Why does He choose not to step in like Indiana Jones and rescue us? Well, because He’s God. He set a day to be born and a day to die. It doesn’t seem “fair”, but somehow, whether we can see it or not, it is fair. God’s love and His mercy is always fair. More fair than we probably want it to be. And the one thing that I can rest in is this…He’s got a plan that includes an entire eternity that I’m unaware of.

So, Kennedy, God is not there to keep us alive on this Earth. He’s there to use this fallen world to mold and shape His children into what He wants us to be. “Safe” on this planet is a very relative term. You will die, just like me, and although I hope that is many decades from now, I am sure of one thing…God will be fair to you in His love and mercy. That is more than I could ever ask for.