Baptism

Yesterday was an awesome day for me!!!! I was baptized yesterday!

It was an absolutely beautiful service. In some ways it was a total blur, and there are some bits that are crystal clear!! :)

I was so nervous before we left for church. I mean shaking. I don't really know why. LOL But I was a total bundle of nerves. We got to church and it took 2 trips to get all the kids, and our stuff into church. It was a potluck day, as it always is when there is a baptism, and we had brought PLENTY of food!!! LOL.

Then I had to sit and wait. BFF and I ALWAYS sit in the mother's room with the girls. We've tried sitting in the sanctuary with them, but they just don't quite seem ready. So we were in there and all of a sudden I have three people busting down the door "The pastor wants you up front!!" I was stunned. I go tearing out of the mother's room and up to the front. It was right before opening prayer. The pastor wanted to do a special blessing on the other baptismal candidate and myself. :) I was standing there waiting, and suddenly I feel BFF standing by my side. I was happy to have her there. :)

Then it came time to go up and agree to the baptismal vows. And then it was time to get ready. Our church practice full immersion baptism, so we had to go change. BFF came with me, and again, I was glad. I was no longer nervous, but it was just nice to have her there to talk to. And then it was back upstairs and into the tank. The other woman, the pastor, and I stood there and had a few pictures taken. They then invited our families to come forward for the baptisms. One of the other mothers had kept our four girls in the mothers room for us until then and then she let them come out to be there for my baptism. This I remember so clearly. The looks of my daughter's faces as they walked up to the front of the sanctuary grinning and saying "Hi Mommy." And Peanut tried to climb the wall to look in. One of wonderful ladies of the church lifted up each of the four girls up so they could see what was going on.

Then BFF's DH read my testimony for me. I had asked him to read it because BFF had felt that she would start crying if she read it. I will post my testimony later, when I post pictures. Oh, and BFF did NOT cry. :) After our testimonies were read, the other woman was baptized, then it was my turn. :) I was not at all nervous. I was totally ready. I was excited. I took a deep breath and boom, in I went. And I was baptized, it felt so wonderful. A journey that has taken years to get to that point.

It's not an end to the journey though, it's really just the beginning for me, and my girls. In some ways I was so overwhelmed by it that I just couldn't really put it into words. I still can't really. BFF asked me if I felt different. I told her at the time no. But I do. I just can't explain it. It's just a kind of peace.

There's so much more I really want to say, but it's now actually quite late on Sunday NIGHT (not the 9:55 AM that the post CLAIMS to be, that's when I first STARTED typing this). So come back for more of my thoughts on it tomorrow!!! :)

Nique