Yes, You'll Get Wet

When the shepherds visited Jesus in the manger and told every one the amazing news that this little baby was the savior of the world Mary's response always fascinated me.

"But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart."  Luke 2:19

Before I had children I would try to understand this verse and I thought I got it.  In my head she stood in silent awe at being the mother of this amazing child and quiet worship of her Lord.  Certainly I think that is part of it and at the same time so much deeper...more than words can express.

So while I cannot express how full my heart is this week because of my children, that God would honor me with their upbringing as flawed as I am, and at how amazingly incredible they are turning out to be as they grow into the people GOD created...for me this verse explains it as well as anything can.

"But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart."

Especially as my boys got baptized this last Sunday.

They chose Auntie J to baptize them since they feel she played a big part in their spiritual walk.

And she does:  praying with them when she babysits, having them memorize Revelation (only chapter 1 so far), and exemplifying a compassionate and Christ-like lifestyle.

 We believe children should choose when the obey Jesus in this command on their own and that it is important they understand that they are choosing to follow Jesus.  But while it thrills me that my boys want to have a relationship with Christ, we were worried that SnapDragon could not possibly understand yet.  He had to wait almost a year from when he first asked as we talked and prayed with him.

But I don't think there is any mistaking the joy this gave him...joy in obeying his Lord and Savior.   Being so aware of his own sin without any help from others, he is excited to continue to take the steps hand in hand with Jesus and guided by the Holy Spirit to become more like Christ--to walk in the light.

Now our belief system teaches that baptism is a symbolism of being born again with Christ...it is NOT the salvation from our sins--that occurs when we accept the free gift of Christ.  But I do know that my Spiritual journey took off after I made this choice in college having been baptized before as a baby.  I believe this is a wonderful step in both my sons' lives, one they made on their own with their own hearts. While it makes me feel proud of them, in the long run has very little to do with me as a parent and everything to do with their own personal journeys with Christ.

And I think maybe that is a little of what Mary felt that day.  Up to that point it had been about her and her teen pregnancy and her purity before God, but as the shepherds came to worship it became about JESUS who is GOD and she, little lowly God loving Mary, was going to given the honor to stand by and witness it. 

And I ponder...what amazing things will I get to witness as I stand by and allow God to rein in my children's lives?

Of course we do still have responsibility to guide our children.  Sunflower also asked to be baptized and we said no.

Specifically when asking the boys whom they wanted to baptize them she said, "I would like...J (age 4)...or E (age 2) to advertize me!'