Monday, March 21, 2011

'ro

Hey ro...
i'm so proud of you.
You never seem to make emotional decisions - and when you emailed me (yes, emailed me) to tell me that you wanted to be baptized... i knew you were making a decision that was based on the work that God is doing in your life.
When you stood in front of all those people to tell your story - your testimony - it dawned on me that the story you wanted to share was one of God himself speaking to your tender heart... not something that your daddy or i could ever conjure up on your behalf. All those scribbled scraps of paper you had been working on for these weeks - you finally typed it up and sent it to me, whispering in my ear, "is this good enough?"
Oh, good enough. Daughter of my heart... i understand what it means to 'delight in' my children... Your story is tiny - and huge... it's *significant* - and will always be 'good enough'.
You... are not defined as a "crisis pregnancy".
You are a child of God... masterful creation of the Creator...
gracefully learning to walk in obedience.
How many women are lied to - robbed of the opportunity to see the lavish love of a Father - who sees years beyond our shameful or painful circumstances to the merciful plan He would unfold...?

Cai's testimony:
I've always lived in a Christian home and gone to church with my family. When I was four, my parents helped my pray to ask Jesus into my heart. I've always remembered that day as an important one.
Since then, I have learned/realized many things about God.
He loves me and sent his Son to die for me.
He'll take care of me where ever I go.
He wants me to love and obey Him even when it makes me uncomfortable,
and He has a plan for my life that I desperately want to follow.
One of my favourite Bible stories is Luke 7:1-9:

1 When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people, he returned to Capernaum. 2 At that time the highly valued slave of a Roman officer[a] was sick and near death. 3 When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some respected Jewish elders to ask him to come and heal his slave. 4 So they earnestly begged Jesus to help the man. “If anyone deserves your help, he does,” they said, 5 “for he loves the Jewish people and even built a synagogue for us.”
6 So Jesus went with them. But just before they arrived at the house, the officer sent some friends to say, “Lord, don’t trouble yourself by coming to my home, for I am not worthy of such an honor. 7 I am not even worthy to come and meet you. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 8 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”
9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to the crowd that was following him, he said, “I tell you, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel!” 10 And when the officer’s friends returned to his house, they found the slave completely healed.

I love this story particularly because the officer doesn't have a shadow of a doubt that Jesus will be able to heal his slave, even without Jesus coming to his house.
I want faith like that.
Whenever I read stories like this, or stories about people in other countries who are persecuted for their faith, stories about individuals who trust so completely, my question is always, "Would I have the faith to do that? Would I have the courage to do that?" My answer to myself is also almost always the same: I hope so.

To me, getting baptized is taking a step in faith and obedience. I'm submitting to 'the plan' God has for me. And I hope that in the future, I'll have the faith and courage to continue to do that no matter where life takes me.

8 comments:

lovefam6 said...

Tears are welling up in my eyes! How beautiful that Cai is following Him who sacrificed everything, in love, for us.

fawne said...

awww....i didn't know cai was getting baptized at night. darn. i would've liked to have been there.
that's so special! your heart must be bursting paige.

Lesley said...

"To me, getting baptized is taking a step in faith and obedience. I'm submitting to 'the plan' God has for me. And I hope that in the future, I'll have the faith and courage to continue to do that no matter where life takes me."

Wow! That is such a profound statement. I know pride is a sin but this is surely one of those 'mama moments'...you really must be so proud of her.
I was baptized at 13 but I didn't have to make a statement. I wish I had...I would like to read it now.
Lx

Unknown said...

Way to go Cairo. #thingsthatareawesome

Anonymous said...

It was Beautiful.

Carlee

mamazee said...

Wow! I read your pastor's blog about the baptisms - sounded so real, and awesome, and i'm so proud of Cairo - since it sounds like she really inspired other people to get baptized and share their stories as well...

love from auntie

mamalena said...

Beautiful Cairo! I'm so thrilled to see you thoughtfully following Jesus, and I love how Father is working in your life.

Mindy said...

What a praise! Blessings on Cai!

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