The Morning Of

OK. It's the morning of my baptism.


Second thoughts? None.


I'm still feeling a little bit nervous as to how its going to go. I'm hoping that nothing will be awkward as we bring the people who mean the most to us, but are virtual strangers to each other, together to celebrate our "coming of age" of sorts. It was looking a bit cloudy before, but the sun came out about five minutes ago. I know that God provides, so I'm putting my faith in Him and bracing myself for a day that's going to run devastatingly smoothly.

We stayed up until 3 AM last night, or should I say, yesterday morning. Turns out, the "something that came up" was Daniel and Nick's big surprise! They came to our door at two in the morning, and asked us to help them "bring something in." OK. That's just suspicious. They never even let us carry our own baggage...and now they're asking for help? Hmm...

We get to the car, and BOOM! Professor Hsieh and Anna are there waiting! SURPRISE!

Best surprise ever. Let me explain(probably, again to some people): Professor Hsieh's family was our "host family" in Chang Hua. They let twenty something of us invade their house, fed us, nursed us in our ill health, and prayed for us nonstop during our week stay there. Last year, Professory Hsieh and his wife prayed for every single teacher on the night before their altar call. As they prayed for me, they told me thing about myself that I never told anyone, things that I never even realized about myself. I remember bawling my eyes out, but feeling so much better after it was all over. It was as if they had unlocked something inside of me that I couldn't unlock myself, as if they had freed me from something that I had been in denial of for a long time.

This year, they prayed for us again. However, as most of us were sick and tired, the prayers were volunteer based and not mandatory. That night, our team stayed up until around 12 working on our skit. I thought, screw it, and laid down to sleep. My sister turned to me and said "Abby. I think if you don't get prayed for, you will regret it." And I knew she was right. I ran downstairs, praying that they were still there...well, praying. I got to the first floor just as the person in front of me was finished being prayed for.

This prayer was no less powerful than the one before. I bawled my eyes out quite unattractively. When they had finished praying for me, and I had wiped away the tears, boogers, saliva, whatever, Professor Hsieh turned to me and said "I think you should think about getting baptized. If you believe that the Lord God is your Father who lives in Heaven, then you should not be ashamed to call him your Father."

I had been thinking about baptism for a long time. This was probably the push I needed to make the final leap.

Professor Hsieh and his family have played a large part in the development of my faith. I cannot think of anyone else that deserves more to be there today. Well, besides God. (: But he's always there. Considering all the drama with invitations and such in the casa de Wang, I really think this is God making us think twice. We should be proud that people want to take part in our baptism. We should be proud to share our faith. We may be doubtful, but God will provide.


This is a big step. haha. The biggest, perhaps, besides actually believing. This is like the moment in a relationship when you decide to "go steady". Hmm...or maybe more like marriage. Today, I am making a commitment to God. :) I'm excited!