"As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him." Matthew 3:16

Yesterday was confirmation Sunday at our church. Fourteen young people joined the church through profession of faith, a few were baptized...I had the honor of taking part in their confirmation/baptism, and it reminded me of my own baptism.

I was not baptized as an infant because the church my family attended when I was born did not baptize infants...but that's ok with me, because it gave me the gift of remembering the day. I can tell you what I was wearing, who was there, who took the picture of me....most of the details. But by far the most meaningful part of the experience after church was out. My family went to the grocery store to get food for lunch, while we were checking out, I looked up at a clock on the wall...as I did this, a drop of water fell off my hair and onto my neck....It gave me chills- a reminder that God (and our faith) go with us everywhere. Too often we focus on these "big" days, and forget that these mountain top experiences are not the end of the journey, but rather the point at which we reach a peak that allows us to see farther than we had before, and see all that we've accomplished.

This week I invite you to remember that you've been baptized into a new life... you can't go back to the way things used to be, and this should cause you to be thankful.