All Ages Gathering In The Water

About 10 days ago Joel had a Sunday off and we headed back to Faith Lutheran in the village of Miller Iowa where we attended services and held fellowship with the people there.  It was great fun to worship and see many of the people we came to know and care about.  After services and coffee we helped get backpacks ready for kids in need.  It was a well spent hour visiting, laughing, helping. When we left the church we headed to our favorite lake, one of only a few in Iowa.  We walked along the shoreline and came across a large gathering of people.  We ventured closer and discovered that the Lutheran church that worships summers in the park was baptizing people in the lake. We could not miss that, so we stood and watched adults, babies, children, and some in need of healing go into the lake to be baptized.  All ages gathering in the water.......carried by mom or dad, walking on their own, some helping the ill.  It was a blessing just to observe and give thanks to those making a commitment to Jesus.

Today as I was watching Bethel Church baptize children through oldsters, with each one speaking about why they wanted to be baptized, I remembered our trip to the Lake and how delightful that was.  As a pastor's wife I certainly have seen many baptisms...mostly babies, some children and adults.  Today as I watched a man in his 70's, shaking from Parkinson's, get into that baptismal tank at Bethel I could not help but weep with joy for him, and pray that he receives not only his Savior but his healing.  Yes Jesus...come......

Life can be so broken, so fragile, so difficult........but with Jesus all is good!  Jesus is the only answer to it all.  Some blame Him for what has happened in their lives, others believe he chooses special people to "suffer" for Him, chosen by God to give glory to Him that way.  Others believe that sickness and disease and early death are not from God at all, but the enemy.

We don't have all the answers tightly wrapped up and kept in a box about God and His ways, but we do know what the Bible says.........and God is so good and loves us soooooo much He gave His only Son to die on a cross so that we can believe, be baptized and be saved.  We know that Christ suffered for our sins on that cross....including sickness and disease.  On bended knee we worship Him and give thanks for all that Jesus has done for us.  We take steps in faith acting on what we believe, receiving His gifts with open arms, just like those who were gathering in the water.  Come, Jesus come.