What a beautiful event: to identify with Jesus Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection!  Although my baptism story takes places months after my acceptance of Christ as my Lord and Savior, I encourage everyone to be baptized immediately upon professing faith (Acts 16:14-15, 31-33). 

 

On October 12, 2003, six months and six days after I received the gift of salvation, I was baptized by water.  On the Friday before, as I sat on the floor of my sister’s room reading the gospels, I kept reading about believers being baptized.  Tears started rolling down my face and I began sharing my heart with the Lord: “I’ve been through so much with you, but that’s one thing I haven’t done. I haven’t been baptized.” 

 

The next day I agreed to a friend’s invitation to attend his church for a special outside evening service.  When I stepped out of my car that Sunday, I immediately felt peace wrap around me like a blanket.  The evening was perfect: a warm night adorned with a beautiful breeze.  The moon lit the white-foldout chairs lined in front of the podium and branching around a center fountain.  A small group of us found seats and listened to the Pastor.  At the end of his sermon, the Pastor asked if anyone wanted to be baptized in the center fountain. 

 

My heart began pounding.  All hearing was lost.  All I could think about was that the Lord was answering my prayer, on such a romantic night!  I shot up from my seat, and one of my companions grabbed me, saying, “You’ll get the car all wet!”  I laughed, wiggled out of her grasp, and thanked the Lord for His answer to my prayer.  With a bounce in my step, I walked up to the fountain, slipped off my shoes, stepped in, with skirt, blouse and all.  And I was baptized. 

When I reflect on my baptism, I treasure how real and raw it was, much like the baptism of the Eunich: 

 

“Now as they went down the road, they came to some water.  And the eunuch said, ‘See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?’ Then Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him" (Acts 8:36-38).