"He who believes and is baptized will be saved" - Mark 16:16
Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. - Colossians 2:12
I know, I know. 🙄 I'm super late. Y'all please forgive me. I got baptized back in August 2019 🤦🏾♀️ and well, with the extra time I have on my hands (due to COVID-19), I decided I need to use this time wisely. Honestly, I've been struggling with my time and schedule for the past few months, but that's a story for another day.
At the end of 2018, going into 2019 was a very stressful time for me. I started getting more into my spiritual journey and was longing for Christ to change my life. I made the decision to rededicate my life right after settling down in Texas. It was one of the best decisions I've made in my life. I've rededicated my life to Christ so many times before, but this time I needed to be serious about my walk with God. I knew the next step would be water baptism. I had never been baptized before and I really didn't know what to expect. I knew I wanted to be baptized at Transformation Church. Pastor Michael Todd blessed my life so much with his sermons, I just thought it would be the perfect opportunity to visit the church in person.
Once I finally decided to put my old life behind me (I still had some trouble when I first got to Texas. That's another story for another day), I went online and scheduled my day to be baptized. I invited everyone that I thought would be of importance to me, to support me that day. Once that day finally came, it was my 2 new friends from church, my ex-boyfriend, and myself who embarked on the 4-hour journey from Dallas to Tulsa. "So are you nervous?", my friend Bre kept asking me. And I wasn't... until we pulled into the parking lot. 😖 When I tell y'all that anxiety hit me out of nowhere. I really wasn't prepared for it because the whole ride there, I was fine. I was excited even.
When we got there, I signed in and received a shirt and towel with a little bag to put my clothes in afterward. The only thing they told us to bring was a change of clothes. Everything else was provided. Once the previous service was over, we changed and was lead to the pre-baptism session, during the praise and worship portion of the service. We took pictures, talked a little about our stories, and were provided snacks.
Then it was time, the moment I'd been waiting for. I was pretty nervous at this point. We had to do our baptisms inside because of the weather (they usually do them outdoors) and to my disappointment, Pastor Todd would not be the one baptizing.😔 I was in a group of people and just happened to be one of the last ones to get in the water. So they called my name, I went and stepped into the metal tub they had filled with water. It was actually warm, to my surprise. They said a prayer and dipped me back. Even though it was a quick process that lasted less than 5 minutes, I felt and saw it happening in slow motion. The water rushed over my head and when I came up, I just felt the Spirit of God hug me, saying "Finally my daughter". I cried like a baby. 😭😭 I spent so many years running and then, feeling like I never had to run again, I became super emotional. I was overwhelmed with joy and the feeling of love. I knew God was proud of me. I was proud of myself.
The feeling I felt is really indescribable. If I had to choose one word to sum it up, I'd probably choose "liberating". The best feeling I felt in my life, to say the least. After changing into some dry clothes, I went back to the area where my friends were sitting and cried during the whole sermon. 😭😭😭 Y'all, I was a wreck.😂 I'm so grateful to my friends that were there with me. I would not have been able to do that alone.
After it was all said and done, we decided to explore the city (which I will write a separate post about). I hope you guys enjoyed my story. I hope this helps and encourages anyone that is looking to get baptized. If you want to take your spiritual journey to the next level. I HIGHLY recommend you take that step. It will indeed bless your life. 🤗🙏🏾🙌🏾
