On Faith, Fillies, Face-offs, and Friends

Plenty of lengthy updates and pictures from a surprisingly cold (by south Georgia standards) and busy weekend. Please budget the appropriate amount of time.

FAITH

The big family news from the past week is that Sue and I (along with about 10 others) were officially baptized at church. Why, you may ask? Well, it’s a simple answer really – joy, obedience & evidence.

Sue and I both have similar stories. We grew up going to church and were fortunate to have families that ensured are involvement in the life of the church. Yet, neither of us really knew what it meant to be the church – that is, a member of the body of Christ. We both knew of God growing up but neither of us understood that on our own we were just broken people – regardless of the picture perfect kids that we were (wink wink). At the age of 18 we both finally understood, by God’s grace, that we really were empty on our own. We understood that Jesus was exactly who the Bible says he is, the one true God who died for us and rose again to life, proving that death has no hold on those who believe in him. Because he died for us we now live for him. So what does that have to do with obedience and joy?

Well…when we moved to Savannah and joined our church (CBC of Savannah) someone actually asked us if we had ever been baptized. And we both had been as kids. And for the last ten years neither of us ever really thought about it too much because we knew we were believers in Christ. Baptism itself has no function in bringing someone to faith or salvation but certainly is symbolic of a believer’s faith. So since we were asked about it we started looking at what the Bible says about baptism in the New Testament.

There are numerous stories of people just like us in the book of Acts. A sorcerer named Simon and an Ethiopian prince (Acts chapter 8), a woman named Lydia and a Roman jailer (Acts 16), and a synagogue ruler named Crispus (Acts 18). The story of each person basically says this: they heard someone share who Jesus was and why he died and rose again, they believed in Jesus and were saved from their sin, and they immediately were baptized in water (including believing family members). The stories point to people who heard the message (like we did in high school), believed in Jesus (like we did at 18), and were then baptized (like we were this weekend). The stories show people who were excited and joyful to be identified with the crazy Christians who were living for Jesus. And the stories show the obedience of people to Jesus on two levels; those who were teaching and sharing the message of Jesus, and those who believed the message and were being baptized (Matthew chapter 28, verse 19 & 20).

Finally, our baptism plays witness to a change in who we are as people. Before faith we lived for ourselves and baptism did not represent us. After receiving faith, baptism is a picture of our death with Christ as well as our life we now live in and for Christ. Baptism is symbolic evidence of a life changed. A better explanation can be read in Romans chapter 6 in the New Testament.

So why were we baptized? Joy, obedience and evidence.

I had the distinct privilege of baptizing Sue

I was less graceful coming out of the water with Pastor Bill

FILLIES

For any of you that have visited Savannah you know that there are a lot of horse and carriages riding around the downtown historic district. You may also know that behind our current church building (aka the old Shoney’s) there is a stable with 10-15 horses. Every week after church Savannah Grace pulls us out the back door while saying “horsey” and “neiiiigh”. She loves horses!

Since Sue and I met in Louisville we’ve always been interested in the Derby and by default the rest of the Triple Crown. We were at a wedding during the Derby this year and therefore we didn’t get to watch. But Saturday…Saturday was a day of “horsey running!”. Savannah rarely watches tv (as in never) but this weekend was special. We turned on the Preakness and Savannah spent the next half hour jumping up and down in front of the tv in absolute joy and cheering the girl horse on to victory. Apparently the early introduction to horses in Kansas and Poppie’s Hop-a-long has really had a profound impact on Savannah.

Watching the horses head to post

Wondering why mommy's cheering against the girl

First horse interaction at 6 weeks old

Born to ride (last Christmas)

FACE-OFFS

And since we’re talking about early life experiences, I should probably tell everyone that we are trying to teach Savannah the gospel….”Yes, Detroit is the best hockey team ever.” She may even have to cheer for the Lions now since the drafted UGA’s quarterback (she has even been on campus in Athens, GA).

Since we take seriously the charge to “train up our child in the way they should go” we relaxed the tv restriction again for game 1 of the NHL’s Western Conference finals. Savannah took to the game right away (never mind she calls it and every other sport “backeshaw”) and really cheered on the Wings. By not cheering for Pittsburgh she has to fight her extended family roots in Pennsylvania, as well as her husband Wiley, but of course love still conquers all. She just happens to have a good sense of right from wrong and therefore enjoys cheering on the Wings.

Cheering on the game winning goal

And goal number 4

Start 'em early - Cup Finals 2008 (sorry Wiley)

FRIENDS

Sue and I have had a good time continuing to get to know new friends at church and in our neighborhood. It can be difficult at times since we live in a neighborhood where no one else from church is close to. But we have started a midweek small group at our house and have had a good crowd each time with some of the college age guys and two couples from South Carolina making the trip across the bridge to attend. It has been fun to begin to get to know people at a little deeper level and we look forward to more to come.

We also noticed recently that another couple that lives around the corner from us had a baby recently. So Sue went by to introduce herself and offer to bring dinner by. They suggested we just get together for dinner instead which ended up being a great idea. We had a great time eating with and meeting some new neighbors (Savannah especially liked the new baby) and again we look forward to more in the future. It can be hard sometime to meet people in our neighborhood beyond a passing glance or hello. Many folks are older and spend little time outside of the house. Other times people quickly duck into their house once they get home and it is hard to meet people. But slowly we are spending more time outside, taking walks through the neighborhood, and at least becoming familiar with others as we desire to build more relationships. As I’ve always said, “It’s hard to love your neighbor (like yourself) if you don’t who they are.”