So last Sunday, I finalized a decision I had been wanting to make for a little while now.
I got baptized.
My parents never baptized me as a child, and I am grateful for that because it allowed me to make that decision on my own.
For me, baptism wasn't and isn't about washing away the old me. I liked the old me. I was still a good person without faith, before faith, and after faith. For me, baptism was the same as watering a flower. Having the water flow down into the roots to feed it. It was also a physical act that would prove my faith.
Before I got baptized, Pastor Christina asked me if I wanted to say a few words, and below is what I said in front of the congregation:
"I like to think of people as gardeners. Every time we accomplish something in life, we plant a seed, and our experiences, and the people around us help that little seed to grow.
For example, in 2013 I graduated from Southern Oregon University with a BA in Creative Writing. On graduation day, I planted that seed. With every story or book I publish, that little plant grows even more.
This evening, I will turn in my final assignment for my Master's Degree. I will have planted another seed. As my career grows, so does that seed.
And then there is my Faith seed. You know those little seed packets you buy at the store? You know how they always have a picture of what the plant is supposed to look like? My Faith never looked like the picture. It either didn't bloom, or it didn't bloom for very long. So I kept what few seeds I had left inside the seed packet and just carried them around. Thinking that one day, maybe, I will be brave enough to plant them again.
And in that time, I discovered that the problem wasn't with me, or my seeds, it was in the soil that I was trying to plant them in. And I think I've found the right soil here. In this church. So today I am going to plant my seed again, and water it, and nurture it here in this garden, with all of you gardeners around me. So thank you all for keeping a plot open for me."
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