Baptism of Grace

Back in October Gracie was baptized. For those who might not understand what that is, it is the act of being immersed in water for the forgiveness of sins, to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the acceptance and confession of Jesus Christ as her personal Lord and Savior. The immersion represents death and rebirth as a new creation, a disciple and follower of Jesus.


Now, technical stuff aside. Gracie had wanted to be baptized for some time before this, but being willing, and understanding what she was doing were not exactly in the same place. Our pastor firmly believes that a person who wants to be baptized must be able to 'weigh the costs' as well as just wanting to do it. They must  not just be willing to make the commitment, but understand what the commitment is. So, Gracie took a class ( four weeks long)  with our pastor and learned all about what the costs are. Only hours after completion of the class, she started making plans to go and speak with the pastor about her desires. Pastor talked with her a while, made certain it was her desire, not her parents, and re-confirmed it was her understanding, not something else. Upon completion of this, a date was set .

Gracie requested that her mom and dad be the ones to do the baptism. ( woot woot !!) She wanted me to do the dunking, so mom got to take the confession of faith before hand, then I got to do it.


So, the first caveat of this story is , why did she want me to do the dunking ? There was more than just one reason, but one of the driving forces behind her decision to choose me was that she is/was afraid of the water. I take her to the pool in the summer, she has a blast, but she does not at all like to put her face under water. When she does, water goes up her nose ( why? I dunno ) and that freaks her out. Since I am always the one in the water with her, I was her choice to be the dunker.Whatever the reason for her choice, it was her choice, and I am/was simply thrilled I got the blessed pleasure of being able to do it.


Now that she has made the decision, and made her choices , its just a matter of waiting until Sunday and making sure all her friends and family are aware of it and have the opportunity to come see if they choose to. For those outside the faith, or with a different understanding of the concept, just understand, to us, this is a huge, humongous, eternally big deal. During the week, Gracie is so very excited. She is looking forward to it, she is hungry for it, she keeps talking about it, everything is so very positive. One of the sidebars to the story is that Gracie has not been able to take communion. It bothered her that other kids did, and she didn't. It bothered her other kids who had not been baptized did, and she wanted to follow the rules so she wouldn't, but they shouldn't be doing it either. ( her words ) So, she was looking forward to being able to take communion with the adults and the 'big kids' and 'teens'. She even wanted to make sure she got back into the service in time to take communion with everyone else, for her first time. ( another cool thing was mom got to hand Gracie the first part and I the second part of her first communion, that was pretty special as well)

So, I mentioned that Gracie was off the hook excited, and everything was positive. Well, as the week wore on, one small thing did change. When I was tucking Gracie in one night, she mentioned to me, " oh, by the way daddy, the water still scares me a little" ( uh oh ) That was all she said, and we did talk about it for it a while. She seemed to be okay, it was just a little scared, not terrified, not big scared, just a little scared.


I was worried, however, that this issue was going to grow. I was concerned that when she was standing there she was going to stiffen up on me and not want to lay back into the water. I didn't want to force her to lay back, so I wasn't sure what would happen. It just so happens ( insert Divine intervention here ) that I was signed up to do a prayer walk in the sanctuary that weekend. I went from station to station praying and praising, following the instructions. But, when I got to the front of the sanctuary, I deviated from the plan a little. I walked up to the baptismal, put my hands in the water, ( the ice cold water ) and prayed for Gracie. The gist of the prayer went something like this, " Lord, we know we are not worthy of the gift of your grace, and neither are we worthy of the gift you have given us in Grace. She is such a blessing to us and so many others. She brings joy to so many people, the light of your Love shines so brightly through her smile and her laughter. When we came home from China and laid her on the altar we promised to " raise her up in the way she should go" we promised to give her back to you in acknowledgement that she came from You. Gracie has chosen to do this, she wants to come closer to you, she wants to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. But, Lord, I am concerned that she is still afraid of the water. Lord, I come as your humble servant asking help, if it be Your will, let Your peace flow through the water and calm her spirit. Lord I ask that you drive any and all fear out of this place , drive the fear from her as we know the spirit of fear is not from You. Let Your comfort and peace flow into her and allow her to come to you without fear in her heart. In Jesus name "


Now, fast forward to Sunday.

Sunday morning, its friends day at church, Gracie has additional family and friends there to see her and because its friends day ( bring a friend to church day) the place is jammed packed. Me, mom and Gracie are in back getting our robes on and preparing to head to the water. ( insert appropriate water song here, let us gather by the river maybe ) Gracie looks up at me and says, " I'm still a little scared by the water" and before I can answer her, mom explains to her that Jesus is in the water waiting for her, and he won't let anything happen to her. ( mom doesn't know about my prayer so I think that was a pretty cool thing to say, you rock mom)

Now, lets do a play by play from here.


We are all robed up and waiting.

Pastor pops in, music is playing, when the music stops we head into the water.

Mom goes up the stairs first, then Gracie, then me, pastor is only minimally aware that there is a potential issue.

When we arrive at the precipice of the stairs we can all three look down into the water.


Mom is a little nervous because she has a lot of words to say and isn't comfortable with public speaking, she is also concerned that she will cry and not be able to speak.


I am concerned that my daughter will stiffen up and not let me lay her back into the water. ( oh me of little faith )

Gracie takes one look at the water and FLIPS OUT.......


Tears come streaming down her face, she is shaking, she is terrified. I offer to carry her into the water. She yells at me. "NO"

Her little body is trembling with fear.

" the water looks funny, it looks too deep, the water is green, I'm scared, I don't want to get in it, I don't want to get in...... we can do this later, "

Pastor comes up the stairs and lays hands on Gracie to comfort her, says something like, its okay Gracie.

Gracie flashes a look over her shoulder at him and tells him , "NO"

( have to know the people to get the humor in that part, Gracie is so respectful and shy, quiet around Pastor Brian, to yell at him is comically out of character)

Mom is reminding her that Jesus is in the water and He is waiting for her.

I remind her that not only is Grandpa and a bunch of her friends out there waiting on her, but being a disciple means being a good example for them, this was her choice, she needs to follow through.

Both of her parents words fell on deaf ears, still shaking, trembling, and crying very hard.
Pastor Brian has stepped down away from us and I can feel him praying instead of talking.

Music stops..............

Mom steps off stairs into the water.

Gracie steps off , as if on cue, and touches the water.


She has a death grip on my finger as she steps forward. Then, as she touches the water, her grip loosens. Every tear is dried away from her eyes. The shivering and trembling is gone. I immediately notice that something happened. Being the slow and sinful creature that I am, it took me a minute to recognize what just happened.

Gracie stands firmly and confidently facing her mom.

Mom talks for a moment to Gracie about how proud we are of her.

Mom asks Gracie to repeat a confession of faith.

Gracie speaks...... she speaks in a confident voice..... ( her best cheerleader voice )

It strikes me then, confident........ fearless........

Now its my turn.......

I speak briefly as well, then I hand Gracie the handkerchief. She places it over her mouth and nose. I place my hand over hers and place my other hand behind her back.

Here is the moment that I was concerned about...... what will she do........ ( oh me of little faith, have I learned nothing!!)

Not only did she not struggle or fight me, she dove........DOVE ...... back into my hand. If she had been on dry land she would have done one of her back handsprings.

When she came back up out of the water, there was nothing but peace........

and applause from a packed church......

We headed out of the water, changed and headed back to the sanctuary for communion and the service.

After service, much love and many hugs, we headed to lunch at Putters, with Grandpa, Debi, and several other friends..

Later that night Gracie said something to me that still sits on my spirit. I was talking to her about how cool it was that she was so confident in the water, once she got in.. She looked at me and said, " I was afraid, but when I got it the water and you told me to not be afraid , I wasn't " ( problem,, once in the water, I didn't say that.... hmm, wonder )


My belief..... (say what you will ) my belief is that God removed the fear from her, but only after she battled a spiritual attack and had the faith to trust Him and step forward. He took care of her, as He always does, but this time she had to bare the cost of her decision first, and when she did so, He blessed her, like He always will......