Martini is Baptized!

Please join us as we praise the Lord! Martini was baptized today!

About two years ago, Martini accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior. He prayed with my mother, his Mema, to have Jesus Christ in his life and to follow Him and asked that Jesus take away his sins. Since then, we have prayed with him as well, as he has wanted to. We have told him how Jesus commands us to be baptized to show others that your life is Jesus'. Water-baptism is a physical representation of the baptism of the Holy Spirit when one gives their life to Jesus and receives salvation. Well, this was a difficult subject for Martini because he is afraid of water. The thought of being totally submerged was frightening to him, so he explicitly has said that he does not want to be baptized until he is much older. "When I am older, Mommy/Daddy, then I will be baptized. I don't want to be baptized. I'm afraid."

Today, we had a playdate at Mema's house. We had a couple of friends over with their kids and we hung out in the pool and enjoyed snow cones and food. The kids were having a blast. At one point, Martini asked me to lay down in the water. I laid down at the bottom of the pool and came up. Martini says, "Mommy, you were 'ba-pi-tized!' "
"Oh, is that why you asked me to lay down in the pool?"
"Yes, so you can be ba-pi-tized."
"Martini, Mommy was baptized a long time ago. Let me show you how you get baptized"
So I went under the water for a mili-second and came back up.
"See? It's easy! It's not hard at all! It's really fast. "
"Mommy, I want to be ba-pi-tized!"
"You do? Oh, sweetheart, that's wonderful!"
"I want to be ba-pi-tized right now!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
Now I am holding him and talking to him. I am baffled and praying about what I should do.
"Sweety, do you want to wait until Daddy can be here?"
"No, I want to do it now."

A million thoughts were going through my head: MyLove isn't here. Is he doing this just for fun? Can I do this kind of thing? Do I need to wait until a pastor can do it. Wait a minute, I remember my dad regretting not baptizing me and my brother when we were little instead of having the pastor do it. My grandfather, a pastor, baptized my mom and sister and it was very special. What about my friends here, do they understand the significance of this? Will they think that I am doing something that I am not qualified to do? All the sudden, I felt a prompt on my heart and had the thought: what if this was the last chance Martini had to get baptized? It would be terrible not to allow him to obey the Lord because I thought it wasn't the perfect timing.

"OK, Martini. Why do you want to be baptized?"
"Because I have Jesus in my life."
"And, what does that mean?"
"I prayed and He took away my sins."
"Yes, and with Jesus in your life, that means you need to honor Him."
"Yes, I want to be ba-pi-tized."
"Are you sure, Love?"
"Yes! Why do you keep asking me things?"
"Martini, I want to be sure you know what it means to be baptized."
"I know. Mommy, I want to be ba-pi-tized."

My friends are there listening now and I look at them and start crying while I hold him and keep thinking. Martini is all the while smiling so big and continued to tell me that he was ready. There were some other things said, but I can't remember. We were all just proud of him for wanting to do this.

So, I think that I said this prayer out loud with Martini (if not, it was in my head) it was all so fast. "Thank you Lord, for Martini's heart in wanting to get baptized and show others that he has Jesus in His life and that Jesus has taken away (forgiven) his sins. In Jesus name, Amen.

"OK, Martini. Let's tell everyone! Hey, guys (Teresa, Abi, Mema, and kids) Martini wants to share something very special with you. He wants to be baptized!" By now, I can't stop crying.

"Martini, tell them why you want to be baptized."
"Because I have Jesus in my life."
"And you want to obey Jesus' command to be baptized?"
"Yes."

I gain my composure.

"OK, Love. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, I baptize you!"

I dunk his head back in the water and Martini comes up with a huge smile saying, "I was ba-pi-tized! I was ba-pi-tized!" And everyone cheered for him and some more tears were shed.

"Mommy, now ba-pi-tize Ethan."
"No, Sweety. He is not ready to be baptized. He doesn't have Jesus in his life yet. We need to keep praying for him to have Jesus in his life too!"

This was all totally unsolicited. Martini knew that we had assured him numerous times that he would not be baptized until he was ready. We would never force him. It was up to him to decide when he was ready to obey Jesus and be baptized.

Later on, he was so excited to tell Papa. I talked to MyLove on the phone, and Martini asked if I told Daddy when I was talking to him. I told him yes and that he was so proud of him. When we got home, Martini excitedly told MyLove what happened (this is at about 11PM!) MyLove and Martini sat on the bed for the longest time talking about baptism, the Holy Spirit, heaven, treasures in heaven, dying, how proud Jesus is of him, how if he wants to get baptized at church, he can still do that so his friends and other Christians can cheer for him and support him. Martini was on cloud nine, and so were we. He kept talking and talking about it. At one point, he told MyLove, "Let's keep talking about godly things. I like talking about these things." Of course, MyLove was only too excited to oblige.

We give all the glory to the Lord and thank Him for His Son, Jesus Christ. Only through Him is there salvation and eternal life!

PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!

And, thank you Lord, for our oh, so precious Martini. He is the one I specifically dedicated to the Lord before and during pregnancy and MyLove and I dedicated Him to the Lord when he was born. I pray that You, oh Lord will use him as a mighty warrior for Your kingdom!!! AMEN.