Baptism

When Rachel was four years old, she called me on my cell phone and told me that she had just asked Jesus to come into her heart. She & Taylor were playing the game Pretty, Pretty Princess when Taylor told her that if she asked Jesus in her heart that she could be a real princess. Rachel wanted to do this so they went and found Chris who explained everything to her and helped her say a prayer. While I was extremely happy, I was a little skeptical of the validity of it due to her age. However, over the past two years, Rachel has never wavered that she asked Jesus into her heart. She can tell you, in detail, exactly what she did and why she did it.

Our church has a class called the Discovery Class for children. They receive a book titled "I'm a Christian Now!" to go through at home with their parents. It covers salvation, the Lord's Supper and Baptism. During this time, instead of going to their normal Sunday School class, they get together for two weeks to go over what they learned with the teacher. At the end of the two weeks, the teachers let the parents know if they think their child really has comprehended what they did. Rachel's teacher said that she believed Rachel really did know what happened two years ago.

Rachel took that class in January and we had not talked about it since then. We did not want to pressure her into baptism at such a young age. Then about three weeks ago, out of the blue, Rachel asked me when she could be baptized. After talking to the Children's Pastor, we decided if she was ready, we would do it. It took about three weeks to set up the date and every day Rachel would ask when she was being baptized. She even told her teacher at school and wrote about it as her journal entry for the week.

The morning of the baptism, she was so excited. My whole family was able to make it for the service. Joel & Carrie, along with Nora & Reubuen, came down from Columbus for the day to share in the excitement. Rachel told me while getting ready to be baptized that all her family came to church just to see her! She was thrilled.

Below are some pictures of her being baptized by the Children's Pastor -- Pastor Greg. Rachel loves Greg and wouldn't even consider anyone but him baptizing her!