Washed.

I'm sitting here in tears just thinking about writing this post.

I love baptisms. I LOVE them.

It could be my best friend or a complete stranger... I love them. and I cry every time. every single time.

It's really beautiful, this declaration of hope and new life in Jesus. It's almost magical.

She submerges into the water. Sin is washed away. She rises. She is free.

Grace. It has cleansed her.

Grinning, she is unable to hold back. Her nerves and her heart race.

We stand alongside. Witnessing. Celebrating. Praising.

She proclaims it, the Truth that Jesus- He has saved her.

We stand in the water with eyes focused, burning with hope. Mouths open, minds racing, prayers being muttered.

Here? This lake? Now?

Is this actually okay?

It's all over in less than five minutes. The whole thing unfolds in less that five minutes. Five minutes?

Scripture is spoken. Prayers are released. Then comes the washing.

It was all just so quick. Can it really be over?

The plummeting: dying with Christ to her old self and her old ways.
The surfacing: rising with Christ to become a new creation. His new creation.

How can it be so simple?

Grace.

It's grace.

He offers this gift to all of us.

He saved her. He saved me.

She is freed from lies.

Humility is so breathtaking.

Here and now, she stands tall. He has pursued her. He has wooed her. and He has won her.

The Victory. and now the Freedom.

The decision has been made. She steps up.

It's her time. Her moment. Declared. Sealed.

The washing. A public proclamation of her salvation.

Him.
Her.
Water.
All that is needed.

She is washed.

She stands clean. Heaven rejoices. We rejoice.

A beautiful sliver of time now marked for eternity.

Thankful for baptism. Thankful for new life. Thankful for hope. 

Love, 
Lyss

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28: 18-20