Baptism

It was an incredibly sweet experience. Altogether, there were probably about 15 people here for the baptism. We sang 'At The Cross' after in invocation, then I spoke about what baptism means to baptists. I usually don't focus on differences, but on similarities we have with other denominations, but in this case it was, I think, appropriate to take the opportunity to explain our beliefs... we were both, I think, a little nervous. Alejandra for obvious reasons, me, because it was actually the first time I'd performed a baptism in spanish. We got through it. When Lexa came up out of the water, she just stood there with her hands covering her face and seemed to just ... soak in the moment. I don't think she was crying, but she was ... overcome. I just hugged her, and then spoke the benediction and commissioning over her -- which the picture caught.

grace & peace

Broadband

When we moved in, the parsonage had that old TV antenna sticking up there, even though it'd been a while since TVs were connected to it -- cable had been installed some time before. It's hard to tell from the picture, and I was still surprised by the size of the thing once it was down on the ground, but the guys that came and installed the wireless broadband antenna (below) took the old antenna down and replaced it with a fairly discreet one.

We had enjoyed cable access when we lived in Virginia Beach, before moving here, and it was at times more of an adjustment than I thought it would have been to go back to dial up access. In all honesty, we could probably have still made do with the dial up, but with Leslie taking an online class this semester at BTSR, we decided that if we both needed to be online at the same time, it would be worth the expense to get the broadband installed and connected. I'd purchased a wireless router after Christmas in the HOPE that we would sooner rather than later be getting a broadband connection ... we were actually hoping for cable access through our cable TV company, but being rural, and sparsely populated, we're not a priority area in which they are deploying that technology. :-(

So here we are, connected and THOROUGHLY enjoying it.

On Baptism

i'm sitting in the sanctuary, listening as the baptistry fills. Alejandra has asked to be baptized, and we're going to have a baptism service Friday evening. it's a big deal. it's the first baptism (by immersion) in the hispanic community ... probably since Berenice was baptized before we came to Emmerton.

we made an open invitation at the encuentro sunday night, for anyone who would like to come and affirm, celebrate, observe, etc. ... so it will be not only an opportunity to observe the ordinance of baptism, but it will also be a teaching moment -- to explain what baptism means to us as baptists.

funny ... before becoming a pastor, i never wondered about the nuts and bolts of a baptism -- i mean actually getting the baptistry READY for the event -- there's a whole procedure (at least there is with ours) of turning on the water, running it to a certain point, then turning on the heater, and letting THAT flush out ... to see if there is any rust or any critters in the lines, then turning THAT off, and running the water ... letting the baptistry fill (I'm struggling to not call it 'the tub') and THEN running the heater again ... we're actually just going to run the water today, let it sit for the next couple of days, let the ambient temperature of the sanctuary warm the water some before cranking up the heater and pump to let THEM heat the water more ... directly ...

the last baptism we held in the sanctuary was on Easter Sunday. the last baptisms we had as a CHURCH were in July at the river. (most folks prefer the river, critters and all -- so do i, for that matter!)

i'm sure there will be pictures ... i'll post them after.

The Wonders of the Internet

Over the last week or two, the traffic between my classmates from the Nido De Aguilas class of 1980 has been increasing exponentially, and it looks like there's a plan in the works to meet next year sometime in Santiago. I suspect (and hope) that the contacts that are being made in relation to THAT will spawn semi-reunions here in the states ... i know we've talked about doing one of those for the last couple of years at least, but hey, guys, let's REALLY try to do one this time! we're not that far from the DC area, Lolly is THERE, and there are probably more of us in the general area as well ... que les parece?

btw, the rest of the time with the grupo italiano went great. there were bumps, but that's okay. we didn't expect perfection ... :-)