easter--it isn't just for rabbits

so today . . . is Easter.

Easter is always one of the most special days at our church, because we totally focus on and celebrate Jesus' resurrection. and today part of that celebration included baptisms.

in our church, we don't believe that anything magical happens when a person is baptized, but it serves as an outward sign of something that has happened inside a person--a person who has asked Jesus to forgive them for their sins. it is a very visual way to show someone's friends and family that they are going to be following Jesus, and that will probably mean some things will be different in how they live--at least, that is what it should mean.

today, most of the people being baptized were teens. our youth group is an amazing bunch of kids. here are a few of them~ they have problems. they have pressures. many of them come from families that have issues. but they love God, and they are growing spiritually and figuring out how to make their sometimes difficult lives work. they are not perfect and they make mistakes--sometimes big ones! but they are learning how to recover from those mistakes and move on, because they know that God loves them even when they have blown it big time! and they know this, because the pastors and leaders at our church show them God's love while helping them figure out how to take responsibility for their bad choices, deal with the consequences of those choices and how to make better choices next time.

i'm really proud of the people at my church. they aren't perfect, but they are serious about being who God created them to be. and we are all part of the process. sometimes i am the one who has made a mistake and needs help to get back on track, and sometimes i am the one who can help someone else in the wake of their bad choices. we deal with stuff, we don't hide it. we help each other and we work together to make our church a safe place. and hopefully that spills over into making our world a better place--or at least our little part of it.

in a time when a lot of churches are dying, ours is not. and it is partly because of what is happening in our youth group. so i wanted to share some pictures of the baptism service today. you will see a lot of diandra and javier, because they are the youth pastors, so they did most of the baptisms today. rollie is there too, because he is the pastor. (the lighting wasn't good, so the pictures are a little dark.)
this is diandra and rollie right before they stepped into the water. i always enjoy seeing them together, but watching them work together is really cool . . .
and then diandra was able to join us for lunch. we went to subway--no crowds! (there's the food reference for those of you who think i can't blog if i don't mention food!) it was just nice to get to spend a little time with her today. i don't get to see her very often. it's hard to believe i can miss someone who lives in my own house, but our paths rarely cross anymore--she is busy. so i enjoyed seeing her face and hearing her laugh and catching up with her just a little bit.

it was a good day.