December Happenings (2)

Just like at your house, lots of things have been happening around here during December.
In this post, I want to share one of my most favorite happenings....

Most of you know that our family grew by one back in April.  (If you missed that exciting announcement you can read about it here:  5+1=6).

I would say that the whole month of December is worth celebrating since it's the month that, as Christ followers, we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior.  With that in mind, I can't think of a better time to celebrate the fact that our oldest child made a public profession of his faith in Jesus Christ this month!  Cabila talked with our pastor here on several occasions and he made the decision to be baptized on December 8th.

I can't begin to tell you how excited we were when we found out!!!  Prior to him joining our family, there were obviously lots of things that we didn't get to experience with him but the things that we get to share with him now, as our son, bring unspeakable joy.  This was one of those times!   I am so grateful and so honored that God allowed us to be a part of such a monumental day in his life!



Here are photos (and some descriptions) from that special day:

We had instructions to be at the church at 6:00am that Sunday.  Side note: after late night rain the night before it was SO pleasant and a little cool that morning.  This was the one and ONLY time all 3 of our American children have worn long-sleeve shirts in Haiti (ha!).  By afternoon, they were in shorts and short-sleeves again but the cooler temps that morning were wonderful! (smiles)

After meeting up with the pastor and the other (2) people being baptized, we walked to the river together.  

The 3 guys being baptized are in white.  (That's my boy in the middle of the participants!)  The further we walked, the more children joined us.  You see the child with the tattered clothes?  He followed us all the way...  he and many others.

There are rules in churches (both spoken and unspoken) about dress codes.  Here as a part of Haitian culture, people are expected to be dressed a certain way in order to attend church.  While I understand reasoning for having dress codes, I believe that when it comes to having a relationship with God that He allows us to come just the way we are.  I love this picture because it reminds me of that and it also encourages me to strive to live a life that will lead others to Christ.   I am so proud of Cabila for taking a stand to strive to live life that way.

Crowds formed to watch the event...

The river, in my opinion, is a perfect place for baptism because it truly is public.  I'm not knocking the way baptisms are done 'back home' but as I witnessed my first baptismal ceremony in Haiti, I saw some things from a different perspective.  I love the fact that so many people can see the decision being displayed during such ceremonies...not in a "bull-horn type 'look-at-what-I-am-doing'" display but in a quiet, yet visibly audible display that says to the community that you are ok with professing and being held accountable to a new way of life.  

Pastor Joshua explained the ceremony before beginning and called Cabila into the water.

 

By stepping up to participate in this ceremony, Cabila publicly professed that Jesus Christ is his Lord and Savior.

 

By being submerged in the water he is proclaiming that his old way of life is dying and while emerging he is claiming his new life in Christ.

 

"I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
Galatians 2:20

 

Pastor Joshua ended the ceremony with prayer.

Dad video'd the event....

...we got a quick family snapshot,

and I got a snapshot with this handsome guy, too! 

"My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth.  I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit-not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength-that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in.  And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love.  Reach out and experience the breath!  Test its length!  Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights!  Live a full life, full in the fullness of God.  God can do anything, you know- far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!  He does it not by pushing up around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us."  

Ephesians 3:14-20

Merry Christmas!  

We pray you encounter Jesus like you have never encountered Him before!