behold, i am making all things new

Our 8 year old daughter said something interesting to me last Sunday night. She said she wants to be baptized. The minister and theologian in me wanted to turn this conversation into something significant and enlightening where she could grow in her understanding of Christ and the symbol of baptism. The skeptic in me wanted to root out the real reason she wanted to take this step. The daddy in me just wanted to grab her, hug her, and rush to the church right then to splash around in the ritualistic pool.

Is this because one of her best friends was baptized last year and she's trying to keep up? Is this because she saw two children baptized this past Christmas Eve? Or is Jesus really stirring around in her in some significant ways? Is it all of this? Is it something else?

I am curious to see where this goes.

I am not sure there's a connection (but maybe there is!) but a few weeks ago I was giving our newborn a bath. Washing her. Playing with her. Laughing at her. The older daughter was nearby, doing something with mommy and maybe? taking in what was going on in some way. As the bath came to its end, baby sister became irritated and fussy. Like most parents, when this happens you do whatever comes to mind to bring this kind of experience to an end. QUICKLY! Our habit is to sing. The song that came to my mind was based on a passage Paul wrote in the New Testament. I have no idea if I'd heard this elsewhere. Almost in good spiritual form, I began to sing...

There is no condemnation for you.
There is no condemnation for you.
O, there is no condemnation, be ye reconciled to Jesus.
There is not condemnation for you.

We are reconciled to Jesus today.
We are reconciled to Jesus today.
We are reconciled to Jesus, there is no condemnation.
We are reconciled to Jesus today.

Paul put it this way in 2 Corinthians 5: 16-20...

From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Perhaps, there's a spiritual awakening going on in our family that will lead one of us, or all of us, to spiritual rebirth as we continue to recognize our role as Christ's ambassadors being re-created. And everything becomes new.

house repairs

"The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining." John F. Kennedy

More and more I think it is time to fix the roof because there might be a deluge coming and no one likes getting that wet.