Baptism

Well, it has been a long time since anything has been posted on this blog, so I thought that I would give it a whirl. I am Gregg, Allison's husband, and I wanted to tell everybody about the experience I had about a month ago at a Saturday church service. I have been a Christian almost my entire life when I accepted Christ into my heart at the age of seven, and I remember it fondly. I had questions about a Sunday school lesson that the teachers didn't answer, so I was sitting outside the classroom when a man in our church sat next to me. Funny thing is, his name was Greg too (but he spelled it weird), so Greg listened to my questions, answered them, and then prayed with me right then and there.

Like many churches, however, I was not able to be baptized at that time because I was too young. I grew up as a Christian and only had a couple of other opportunities to be baptized, but I didn't feel like it was the correct time for me. Knowing that I wasn't baptized starting weighing on my spirit, and as we started attending Christ the King church the opportunity to be baptized presented itself during a service where the older kids were brought into the sanctuary to watch the baptism. I told Allison that I wanted to be baptized at the next opportunity, and my oldest daughter Madison (8) told us after the service that she wanted to be baptized too. How amazing it is that we decided to be baptized at the same time!

So, one Saturday evening in February 2010, my family (Allison, Madison, and Emma), my dad and step-mom (Dennis and Sayra), my in-laws (John, Pam, and my nephew Jayden), and even some cousins (Adrain, Sasha, JJ, and Ava (who was also going to be baptized)) sat in the front left corner of the sanctuary during the service. When Pastor Grant was done with his sermon, he dismissed all the people being baptized to the back stage area (yeah, there were more than just Madison and me) where we all took off our shoes and any extra clothing we didn't want to get wet. Any children that were getting baptized were supposed to be in the front of the line, but somehow, Madison and I were delayed and as the line was being let out on stage, we had to run to the front of the line. Well, we were second in line, and Ava and Adrain were first in line. As we stood on stage, Pastor Grant talked with the church about the importance of baptism and what it means to a Christian, and then he prayed for us all. When the prayer was finished, Ava and Adrain led the line to the pool on the far right of the stage - our right - but it was the front left corner of the sanctuary where all of our family members were sitting. I remember standing at the edge of the pool holding Madison's hand watching Adrain help baptized his daughter (Ava) and think what an amazing opportunity to not only experience the baptism process with our children but to assist with the procedure. When Ava was baptized, the whole church erupted in cheers and roared with excitement, and the look on Ava's face and Adrain's smile was breathtaking.

Then it was my turn, and my emotions fluctuated from excitement and pure happiness for Ava to a complete void. I remember standing there telling somebody I was being baptized first and then Madison after me, and I felt completely mechanical walking down the steps of the pool. All of my shorts had big holes in them so I wore pants to be more appropriate while my picture was being displayed on the two big screens in the sanctuary. When I tried to walk through the water, however, my pants were dragging me down, and it took so much effort to walk through that pool wearing pants. So a piece of advice, splurge! Buy yourself a new pair of shorts when you get baptized so you don't have to wear pants into the pool. Anyway, I finally made it to the other side of the pool, and all of the emotions that left me feeling void came rushing back to me. Images of when I became a Christian, my wedding day, watching my kids birth (that's a whole other story I'm sure you've all heard), and sitting bedside in the hospital, watching Madison slowly die, praying for a miracle all flooded my mind's eye. I remember that I started crying as they lowered me into the pool, so I don't think anybody noticed. When I was pulled out of the water, I just remember absolute silence. The void I felt before was replaced with the total opposite. I was so full of emotion, I was numb. I'm sure there were cheers, but everything was quiet. And then, Madison was in the pool, and I was standing next to her as words and prayers were said for her. Then I helped lower her into the pool and pull her out again, and the cheers were so loud it hurt my ears. The lights were so bright it hurt my eyes. I just thought what a miracle this girl is and what a special and amazing individual she's becoming and will become. Born at just 1 pound 6 ounces, we experienced most every emotion with her throughout her entire life. Watching special, modified defebrillator paddles get wheeled in to restart her heart, watching her right lung inflate so much that it crushed her heart and other organs to almost non-use, to taking her home and stopping in Everett so my sister Kristina and her family (Gregg (yes, another one), Mackenzie, and Caitlin) could look through the car windows and see her for the first time at 5 months old. Watching Madison walk up those steps and out of the pool, I thanked God for blessing me with her life when it should have been taken away. I just can't wait till her wedding day when I stand there blubbering like an idiot crying my eyes out stammering, "What's my line again?"

Well, this ends my little tale of my baptism and turns out to be much longer than anticipated, and I didn't think I would get so emotional. So, I hope you all enjoyed it and that it makes sense because I couldn't read the screen through all the tears.

God Bless

Gregg