This weekend, I had the absolute pleasure of watchingseveral of my dearest friends and sister get baptized.
My family ministry, Lord’s Legacy Life Ministries, hosted a Celebration Baptism event in order toprovide individuals with mental and physical disabilities with the opportunityto be baptized. You see, many individuals with special needs are never offeredwater baptism because local churches do not have adaptive equipment and cannotsubmerge them safely.
(For more information about the event and extra tugs on your heart strings, please watch both of the videos!)
Several months prior to the event, the Lord set a burningdesire into my mother’s heart. She believes every individual that chooses toserve Jesus has the right to a water baptism and wanted to help them outwardlyexpress his or her commitment to our almighty God. Therefore, she purchased alift to allow wheelchair bound individuals to safely be baptized in atraditional baptismal. With the supportof the ministries staff, client families and local church, the event went offwithout a hitch.
We started with a brief introduction from my mom and sister, Dawn. Pastor Mark Keene gave a quick devotional and the administrative staff of Lord's Legacy led praise and worship (they had NEVER practiced before yesterday. They are crazy talented!). Following worship, mom and Pastor Mark climbed in the baptismal and got down to business. I am 100% sure there wasn't a dry eye in the house.
Dawn, my sister, was the first of be baptized. After all, the whole vision of our ministry came from our lives crossing paths and the Lord showing us his unfailing love and patience through her.
Then dear Georgie, he brought his most prized possessions, Bert and Ernie to watch him be baptized. After he was baptized, he yelled, "I DID IT!" Everyone cheered. 
Next up was Mr. Bobby. He's always the life of the party and really a cool dude. He walked into the baptismal with ease and came out with a fist pump!
Following Dawn's baptism, this was the most precious. This young lady (she's 53 with the innocence of a five year old), Sabrina, who is also Dawn's roommate and the keeper of my heart, was all smiles yesterday. She cried tears of joy for most of the day and then told me this morning it was the "best day of her life".
Miss Ashley used Saturday as an opportunity to rededicate her life and finally be water baptized. She squealed with delight after her baptism and praised God all afternoon.
The last gal to be baptized was Belinda. She came to the event via word of mouth. Her sister and case manager brought her from a town an hour away, to worship with people she had never met, all because she had the desire to be baptized. It was a true honor to get to serve her in such a beautiful way!
After all the baptisms, we hosted a beautiful reception and of course had cake...Balloons were released in the honor of the participants and their families.
Words cannot describe the joy I felt by simply having the chance to be a part of something so HUGE. The barriers of adversity were broken down and everyone worshipped in such a beautiful way; it was simply breathtaking.
I am so proud of my mama and her obedient heart. I am amazed by her staff and the families of the individuals in which we serve. I am utterly astonished by the uninhibited and precious way these individuals serve our Lord. I pray that I never forget the way I felt and the beauty that I saw as Saturday will go down in history as one of the greatest days of my life.
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