And the ransomed of the LORD will return
And come with joyful shouting to Zion,
With everlasting joy upon their heads
They will find gladness and joy,
And sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Isaiah 35:10

It is always a great joy to spend one Sunday during Advent with a baptism service!

Here is Cindy leading us in music of celebration for the occasion. On Sunday evening we gathered at First Baptist Church since our church building does not have a baptistry (i.e. dunking tub) Ours is an old Methodist Church building and the Methodists sprinkle instead of dunk!

As each person comes into the water to be baptized, another person reads their testimony, or story of coming to faith in Christ. This is Aly and Eric. They were recently married at our church. Cindy read Aly’s story which told of much apprehension about Eric’s faith, not wanting to go to church, and leaving the room while he and others studied the Bible and prayed at home. Over time Aly described feeling compelled to come to church even without Eric – so compelled she would drive straight to church and not even stop at Dunkin’ Donuts! (You hardly ever see Aly without an iced coffee in hand.) Her story made all of us laugh and cry. It was beautiful, and I don’t know what we ever did without these two – they are gifts. Aly now calls herself the “Hospitality Queen” since she has taken the job of making coffee every Sunday among other things, and Eric plays in our worship band – amazing electric guitar and vocals. ( I’m not really a huge fan of electric guitar but when Eric plays, well that’s a different story!) You can also find Eric here.

And with their signature knit caps – the Krum Children – eager to go out to eat which was the other fun activity of the evening. Chili’s – complete with chips and salsa for appetizers – WOW! Back at home we had hot cocoa around the Advent Candle.And one extra photo to show you the every-spare-moment-activity of my kids – snowboarding and sledding down our very icy backyard hill. Coop is a natural, of course. I think his interest was heightened when last week his allergy doctor asked him if he was a snowboarder, as he “had the look.” He also looks the part of surfer in the summer and electric guitarist/drummer pretty much year round. Lord, have mercy……please!