Weekend update

The church family camping trip was all that we hoped it would be. Gorgeous weather (not a cloud in the sky for three days), good food, good company, beautiful scenery, and -- more important -- a start to the healing process for all of us after the loss of Jared.  His young wife and children, his mother, and his in-laws joined us Sunday morning for church in the mountains, where we baptized his eldest daughter, his widow, and a niece and nephew of his.

Jared had wanted to be baptized too, but he no longer needs that. 

After the events of this week and the weekend, it is ever more clear to me how much of a family our small church has become. And am I ever glad!!

Surprisingly, I also was baptized on Sunday morning.  Growing up Methodist, I had been baptized as an infant and then "confirmed" in sixth grade.  For the last few years, I've been thinking long and hard about being able to choose for myself that "outward and visible sign" of baptism by immersion. Yesterday morning, it all crystallized, and I stepped up to our church's galvanized horse trough baptismal and got myself dunked.  And I felt so free and light afterwards! I've been a Christian since I was 15 years old. To feel as Jesus did when He came up from the water was amazing! I wish I'd done it sooner!

Okay, that's my weekend update. And now, we're going great guns at building the new deck and finishing the outside of our house.  Because in a few months it will be on the market!

But that's another blog post . . .

- Catherine