A Glorious Day!

Do you ever have those moments when you think "Only God"?! Only God could orchestrate something so beautiful, so powerful, so amazing?! :)

This past Sunday morning, I had the opportunity to witness and participate in the baptism of my good friends Tom and Jen Torresson. The whole experience was a miracle from start to finish!

You may remember I shared the story of meeting Tom and Jen, who were both far from God and wanted nothing to do with the Christian religion. (Refresh your memory here).

Today, not only are Tom and Jen both followers of Jesus, they decided to publicly display their commitment to life in Christ by participating in their church's baptism service. I wouldn't have missed this day for the world!!

To top it off, Jen asked me if I would be the one to baptize her. Can you imagine? I cried like a baby when I thought of the awesome opportunity to share in something so special and so sacred with her.

One of the many highlights of the morning happened before the baptism began. Jen, Tom, Tom's friends, and I were sitting together waiting for the service to begin. I was sitting in between Tom and Jen ~ Tom to my left, and Jen to my right. It was almost a surreal moment.

I thought of Tom and seeing him just a few months ago lifeless in his hospital bed. (If you've forgotten Tom's miracle, read more about it here). I thought about the many, many hours of desperate prayer for Tom and his family. I reflected on the cardiologist's words, "prepare for the worst". And now, here we were, less than two months later, and Tom is healthy and strong and ready to be baptized. Only God!

Here is a picture of Tom with surrounded by friends from his men's group right before he was baptized.

And as Jen and I stood in the water together right before her baptism, I thought about our hours and hours of conversations about God and faith and joy and Jesus and more . I reflected on Jen's strength during Tom's heart attack and her faith and dependence on God ~ and how she inspires me. I celebrated God's goodness in her life and His faithfulness in bringing us both to a baptism tank at Mars Hill Bible Church.

Only God!

So today, may I ask you to do two things before you close this blog?

First, think of that person that you know that is living far from God. The one that you think would never, ever follow Jesus...much less get baptized in front of hundreds of people. (Did you think of the person?? If not, stop and think of him/her before continuing.)

Would you pray for him/her? Pray that God would remove the veils that are getting in the way of seeing Him clearly (2 Cor 4:4) and that God would surround him/her with authentic men and women who love Jesus. And pray that God would do a miracle in his/her life and that they would come to know Jesus in a personal way!

And secondly, may I ask you to pray for Tom and Jen? Would you pray that God would continue to do immeasurably more than we could even ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20)? Would you pray that God will use them to bear much fruit for the Kingdom...and perhaps next year they'll be in the tank baptizing others! Wouldn't that be fun?!

Only God!!

Let's pray...Oh Lord, Thank You that there is no one too far from You! Thank You that You are a God of miracles (I know because I'm one of them!). Please bring to mind the men and women who You have placed in our lives that do not know You. Please give us the words to say and the heart to love and the courage to point them to You. Thank You that Tom and Jen know You...and I pray You would continue to reveal Yourself to them in loving, powerful, and amazing ways. For Your purpose. For Your Glory Alone. Amen!

P.S. The picture at the top was taken right after Jen was baptized. I'm on the left with the hot pink shirt, and Jen is the one wearing the dark wet shirt on the right. Only God! :)