Good morning and happy Monday! I'm so excited to share with you that our son made the decision yesterday to be baptized. For awhile, he had been struggling with if he had truly accepted God over a year ago and what did accepting God really mean in his life. My heart ached as I watched him struggle and wonder but I just continued to encourage him and pray with him over his heart and his relationship with God. As we were eating dinner on Saturday night, he announces that he and God had worked everything out in his heart and that he was ready to be baptized. On Sunday, his Sunday school lesson was on salvation and baptism which confirmed what God had placed in his sweet heart. So after church, he asked me to let our pastor know that he was ready and to get him on a list for the next baptism service. What wonderful joy filled Mike and I's hearts as we listened to him explain his journey of thought and prayer over the matter. God is good and never ceases to amaze me!

Something else that I have been thinking about is how God puts people in our lives to teach us and make us into who He wants us to be. I so easily fall into judging what other people's lives must be like determined by who their married to, how their children act and what kind of house they live in. As Mike and I have continued to lead our young adult connection group and get to know more intimately those in our group, I have been surprised to find that many are not what I imagined them to be. Our goal is to make the group a place where people can be open, honest and real as we walk through this life together - through this honesty we have found that those around us are walking the same difficult path as we are. God is teaching me that no matter who your married to, who your children are, where you live or what kind of job you have - we are all in the same boat. We all have insecurities, hurts, mistakes, and happiness. It is time to put away our intimidation and insecurities and build up those around us, no matter who they are.

Have a great day!

Living fearlessly in Christ
Christie