Baptism

Maddie told us last night that she wanted to get baptized at the service this evening, and we were all good with that.  It was an unforgettable day.  The weather was perfect - there was this threat of rain, and in fact it rained hard at the church about a half-hour early to us arriving.  But it was ideal tonight, and in fact there was a rainbow in the sky behind the baptism pool.  I was thinking of the dove that flew down, but instead thinking wouldn't it be great if there was a rainbow... and there was!

Anyway, we had this service tonight with a few worship songs followed by an extended worship session, during which many of the students who went to Camp FCY were given the chance to step into the pool for baptism.  You can see Maddie above with her special shirt on, the one given to students getting baptized.  She was second in line for the baptism, and descended into the pool there, walking up to Pastor Hamilton. Pastor Jacob was up there too, the two of them simultaneously baptizing the students who wanted to be baptized.

Maddie spoke for a few moments with Pastor Hamilton, and after that, the two of them prayed together, and shortly after that, she was baptized, coming out of the water to cheers and applause.  We are so blessed, and we're so proud of Maddie.  Below are pictures from tonight - we had Pastor Lance taking video, our friend Taylor taking video, a friend of Maddie's taking a video, Camille taking a video, and I was taking one too - plus there was a staff photographer taking a few pictures too!  I'm sharing some of the pictures here below, some of which are screen captures from the videos.  Others are just pictures from the evening, the beautiful skies, the worship team and the grounds.  But most are pictures of Maddie's big moment, her baptism.

We had ideal seats, right there by the pool's edge, and also not directly in the line of fire of the worship speaker system too!  The evening was pleasant, a beautiful celebration, and a wonderful night together.  We sat around and talked and mingled after that, the music still playing as the sun set slowly.  It was a perfect day.