Mama Byrd

Ellie was baptized on Sunday at Lake DeGray. My dad was able to baptize her, and believe it or not, it was his first time in 34 years of ministry to baptize someone in the lake!

Ellie became a Christian in late February. We have been working our way through a new Christian workbook for children since then, and one of her assignments was to write her testimony. I was able to read her testimony during the service, which was special for me.

She became a Christian in the car on the way home from Little Rock. We began talking about it because we couldn’t find the remote control to the DVD player, so the kids couldn’t watch a movie. I would say that was providential, wouldn’t you?

Ellie began our conversation with the question, “Why did Jesus die on the cross?” Talk about a complicated concept to explain to a 6-year-old! Once I tried to explain the whole story of our sin, our separation from God, Jesus’ perfection and Jesus taking our place on the cross, her response was, “Mom, that’s not fair that Jesus had to die!” It was pretty clear that she understood the concepts of her own responsibility for sin and Jesus’ sacrifice.

We were so proud of her Sunday night. She was much younger than the other baptismal candidates, and she maintained her composure very well. The water was cold, and I imagine it was a little scary to get into the lake, but she was very excited and also understood that baptism was a very serious thing.

I’m sure she’ll always remember being baptized in the lake!

Filed under: Uncategorized on May 8th, 2007