"Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?"*

I was baptized as a baby, and subsequently publicly 'confirmed' years later what was said on my behalf as an infant. However, having fully committed my life to follow Christ as an adult, I came to believe that I needed to be baptized again, intentionally and of my own volition. At that time, baptisms at our church were part of the church services, and each person being baptized gave a brief testimony of why they were being baptized. While I truly wanted to be baptized, the thought of doing that in front of all the people in the actual service terrified me, and that fear was winning the internal battle I fought each time the Baptism services were announced.

One summer, years ago, we were vacationing at Heritage, USA, and they happened to have Baptisms in one of their swimming pools one afternoon each week. I decided to take the plunge while we were there. Although I thought the relaxed 'pool atmosphere' was the answer to my 'fear factor' and somewhat of a 'comfort zone', I nonetheless was sincere in my heartfelt desire to be baptized, and like the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:36-38)*, I didn't think it was a 'cop out' to not have a 'crowd'. Afterall, who would bother to hang around the indoor pool on a sunny, uneventful, Tuesday afternoon???

The venue was a large indoor pool in the main lobby of the hotel. I arrived at the appointed time for the pre-Baptism teaching and preparation, about 1 hour prior to the actual event. The pastor talked with each of us to be sure we knew what we were doing and why. There were about 20 of us sharing our 'testimonies' with each other in the little gazebo next to the pool, and while I was a bit nervous, I was very glad to be getting baptized, and happy that courage finally kicked in and suppressed my fear.

I knew that Bruce and our 3 daughters were going to 'watch' from one of the 4 balconies which surrounded the hotel atrium/lobby and pool, so I looked up to try to locate them, and realized that ...a rather large crowd was assembling. And over the next 20 minutes or so, it grew to a gathering much larger than I would have faced at one of our church services (it was a big lobby). So much for my desire to avoid attention! I could picture in my mind, God smiling at me, and saying, "GOT YA!" And I smiled and thought, "Yes, you did!" He gave me the opportunity to do something which He wanted me to do, and I wanted to do, but needed a gentle push.

Surprisingly enough, as the crowd grew ... and grew, ...my anxiety dwindled. I blocked out the people, and focused on my Baptizer. It was a special moment, and a cherished memory.

I was thinking about this today, because in a few weeks, our church is having a group Baptism, in a big swimming pool, in our church lobby! It's part of our Take a Stand Weekend, and will provide a wonderful opportunity, and maybe a gentle push, for many people to take this important step right then and there!