"drink from tha livin wooda"

Two weeks ago I was baptized at my church, River of Life Worship Center.  It was something that I chose to do, not because it "saves me" (for my faith in Jesus alone does that), but as an outward declaration of my commitment to Christ.  Baptism represents the washing away of your sins--your old self is "put to death" when the pastor submerges you under the water and you are raised as a new creation with Christ's resurrection.  At the baptism service, Mike Dudley spoke of it as a wedding ring.  If you put on a wedding ring, it doesn't mean that you're married (much like being baptized isn't what saves you, faith in Christ saves you).  However, you put it on after your married to show your lifelong commitment to that person.

I could go on and on about how amazing this experience was for me, but words simply do not give it justice.  I will say however that it was very special to me that Mike Dudley baptized me (yes, it was a full submersion hahaha) and Missie Dudley read the testimony I had written out loud while I was standing in the water.  I had a ton of friends, both old and new come.  It really meant the world to me and it was so awesome to have everyone there, showing me their support.  The best part?  My dad came.  He drove all the way from New Jersey just to see me get baptized.  I don't think he fully grasped everything, but I was able to share the Gospel with him through my testimony and I can only pray that Christ began to soften his heart while he was there.  McKenna was baptized right after me and that was super awesome because we were in the same place and in the same group of friends two and a half years ago.  The Lord is good.  He can and will change lives.

I haven't posted in a long time because school is out of control right now.  This has truly been the most challenging/busy academic year for me thus far and I am ready for it to end.  I don't even really have time to be posting right now but I knew I was long overdue and wanted to share with you all how Jesus is continuing to be active in my life, regardless of the mounds of school work I am drowning in.  All I want is for the school work to end so that I can put all of the ideas swarming around my head concerning InterVarsity next year into order.  I'm ECSTATIC for planning with the rest of C-Team at Rockbridge and for implementing those plans in August.  Our new staff worker, Jess, is visiting this weekend. She is so awesome and such a perfect fit for our school.  Chatting with her is making me that much more excited for next year. :)  Also it has been SO NICE outside. Perfect weather. So it's making concentrating in school that much harder.

Steph & me in the fountain in the beautiful weather!

 I was feeling in a bit of a rut from spring break until my baptism, and ever since then I've thankfully been back into my favorite place of watching God refine me, sometimes week by week and sometimes moment by moment.  Job 17:9 says, "Nevertheless, the righteous will hold to their ways, and those with clean hands will grow stronger."  The Lord wants us to keep moving forward in our faith with Him.  He wants us to keep pursuing Him, continue learning His Word, and remain in pure amazement of Him.  He wants us to stay on a righteous track so that He can make us stronger and more like His Son.  I should be so extremely stressed out, but I've been praying through this crazy end of the semester schedule and I feel pretty good about it all.  I can't let myself get stressed with my time consuming physio experiment, my hard to understand genetics class, and all the papers in history and developmental because Jesus is beyond better than a few good grades.


There's so much more that I want to say but I have to go get ready for a taco dinner at the Hodi household in honor of Jess. :) SERIOUSLY NOTHING BETTER THAN INTERVARSITY NIGHTS. I NEVER WANT COLLEGE TO END. LIFE IS GOOD. GOD IS GOOD.