As I write this, my family is less than four hours from witnessing the baptism of our first daughter. It’s going to be beautiful to see her receive this sacrament and start the process of being raised in the faith. I’ve always believed in God, but my faith has deepened significantly in the last several years. About four years ago now, a good friend of mine asked me to join his Bible study. He and three others had committed to reading through the whole thing in a year. I’d never read any of the Bible, save for the verses that were read to me during Sunday school. Without much hesitation, I accepted his offer and quickly realized that this group was exactly what I needed. The result has ultimately been over 1,000 days of reading from a daily devotional, coupled with a chapter or two from the Good Book. My growing relationship with Jesus has been nothing short of transformative. And as we sit here together on the day of her baptism, I can only pray that she will come to find the same type of relationship with Him that has saved myself and Maria.
This particular blog is also a bit difficult for me to write for a few practical reasons.
- She hardly slept last night, so neither did we (forgive me for any typos this morning)
- I’m currently typing on my laptop, which is carefully set on the arm of her rocking chair, as I continue to rock her
In “my perfect world,” we all would have gotten our solid seven to nine hours, uninterrupted. In “my perfect world,” she would have been sound asleep in her bassinet from the hours of 5am-7am. In “my perfect world,” this would have led to a distraction-free blogging session in which I deliver profound wisdom to all who read it. But, that was not the plan for today, and it’s not about me. It is never about me.
This contrast between “my perfect world” and God’s plan for me has been at the forefront of my faith journey. Our lives are perfect, but not because we always get every little thing that we think we want. Our lives are perfect, but not because the people around us (infants or otherwise) act in exact accordance with our wishes. Our lives are perfect because they are His will unfolding in front of us, and He is perfect. The more present I am to this, the more peace I feel. The more present I am to this, the better I show up for the most important people around me. I’m a constant work in progress with this as we all are, being flawed humans. However, every day I’m working to get closer to Him, to look for him in every event and interaction of the day, and to surrender to the perfection of His will. These are the thoughts that will be in my mind as we watch our little girl at the Baptism today. He’s making me a better person, and I’m working to know Him better all the time. I pray that she will, too.
