Cannonballs in the Baptistry

Flat on my back hidden behind the sound booth, I sank into the hard floor, grateful to not be upright in church (Sanctuary Church!). Neither coffee or power juice had been able to wake my mitochondria. Days of recital preparation had paid off. But after our show Saturday night, I felt like a wet noodle in church Sunday morning.

Regardless, I'm glad I went. It's not every day two rising sophomores do cannonballs in the baptistry. 

Before you judge, you need to know one of those girls, Maddie, spent her freshman year in high school battling cancer. Yet she stayed so close to Jesus through the ordeal that she helped her friend, Sarah, grow in her faith. Neither knew the other was even thinking about being baptized until they spoke with our pastors. 

So if there ever were two girl excited about entering the swirling, holy waters together, it was Maddie and Sarah. When they entered from opposite sides, they definitely made a splash.

 A fiberglass baptistry like ours!

Their exuberance, from proclaiming to the world they are bonafide Christ followers, stirred my tired soul. While Maddie has been declared cancer free, the fact she faced what most of us fear and came through with her faith in tact is no small victory.

But as they rejoiced, my friend Bonnie lay in a hospital bed across town, facing end of life decisions. ALS has slowly taken her independence and ability to move. An infection forced a hospital stay and more unwanted needle pokes. When they prepped her for a small surgical procedure Friday, it took 20 attempts to insert her IV.

She's tired. Very tired. And so is her caregiver, Lu.

But just a few weeks ago, Bonnie led our Monday night Bible study with Lu's help. Lu copied the pages, highlighted important parts, and taped them to a pole so Bonnie could lead our discussion.

So as I lay on the floor in church on Sunday and heard our pastor, Craig, say something like, "If anyone ever writes a story about our church it should be titled, 'Cannonballs in the Baptistry,'" I not only thought of Maddie and Sarah, I pictured Bonnie making a splash when she enters heaven. 

Talk about exuberance! 

Young girls declared their hope in Christ for all of us to see. They declared it with utter joy, enthralled by His love. Soon, Bonnie's journey will come to an end and she will be walking and leaping and praising God in the gates of glory.

Sarah and Maddie's faith journey is just beginning. Bonnie's is coming to an end. The juxtaposition of the two journeys made me simmer in my happy place.

Oh how I want to end my journey with the same elation those girls began theirs on Sunday. We're achieving an eternal glory that far outweighs it all, you know. It's hard to fathom in a world of sin. So I'll link to a story I heard about today.

A Christian, knowing he would lose his life to an ISIS fighter, gave his executioner his Bible. The militant soldier read it and began to have dreams about a man in white saying, "You're killing my people."

You can hear more on the link below. 

But in the mean time, just think about it. Right before a man lost is life in a brutal, horrific way, he looked the scary man in the face and said, "I know you will kill me but I give you my Bible."

Cannonballs in the baptistry, indeed! 

Keep believing people. Keep your hope alive. Feed it with His word. His love is bigger, shining through His believers in the darkest place.  




photo credit: ANGER! via photopin (license)