As a person raised in the LDS church, I was baptised at the age of 8. I don't really know exactly when I became a "born again" Christian, but I remember in the 5th grade that a friend of mine told a few of us that the way to get into heaven was to ask Jesus in your heart. That wasn't what I had been taught at all and it sounded so funny to me. But I went home that day and did it just in case. I wanted my bases covered. I remained very active in the LDS church and firm in my belief in it until I got to college. My first boyfriend in college was an Evangelical Free pastor's son. He fought me tooth and nail on my beliefs. Not the best approach, but he did get me thinking about some things. My best friend in college, Stephanie, was a Baptist. We were roommates for a couple of years and we had some great conversations and attended a couple of Bible studies together. Then for a while, I didn't attend any church. I never really stopped praying to or believing in God. I just moved Him to the back burner of my life. I had become very disillusioned with the LDS faith and what I like to call the "checklist". But I also was afraid of my mother's reaction if I attended another church.
About a year and a half ago, my supervisor at work was talking about Central Christian Church. My step-sister had attended there before and loved it, and I had gone to a service or two there. I was now at a point in my life where I was trying to get God back in my life. I wasn't doing things so hot on my own, and I have seen things in my life that could only be the hand of God and wanted it back in my life so desperately. So, I decided to join her on Sunday. I was hooked. Several months later, things changed for me. It was a typical Sunday. I was at church with my friends, Darlene and Randi. That weekend was the "Baptism Celebration Weekend." The sermon, of course, was on baptism. Since I had already been baptised, I never really gave thought to being baptised again. But the pastor said something that really struck me. He talked about how being baptised as a baby or a child without a full understanding of what it actually meant was a nice way for parents to dedicate their child to God. However, being baptised again as an adult is a great fulfillment of that dedication. The wheels in my head started turning. I thought to myself that I would pray about that and consider being baptised later. After the service, my friends and I decided to go outside and watch the baptisms and support those making that decision. As we were watching, this feeling came over me that I couldn't deny that I needed to get in the water now! I said to Randi and Darlene, "I'm going in!" I went to the info tent and signed up. If a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll let these pictures do the talking for a bit.
The smile on my face says it all. My life was profoundly changed in that moment. After I got out of the water on the cold and windy day, the pastor and his wife were walking by. They congratulated me, and seeing that I was now freezing cold, he said, "We'll shield you an protect you!" and he put his arms out as if to put a barrier between me and the wind. But more than the physical, I feel that through my baptism, my outward declaration of the change that happened within my heart, a protective barrier has been put around me. Praise God.
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