Baptized!

This picture is of me and my friend Sarah, as we were preparing to usher in the prayer room. Thankfully, it was the last day we were signed up to do it (though we still have at least one more EGS service to usher, and I still usher every Sunday morning). I find it hard to usher, because I want to be in my own little world with Jesus, and when ushering you have to have on your "what-are-the-people-doing" radar.

Here's the cool story:
I met the Lord when I was 16 years old. At Ihop, they encourage you to look at your prophetic history in the Lord and compare how it lines up to Ihop's prophetic history. I was born in the fall of 1982, and it was that next spring that the Lord spoke to Mike Bickle about 24/7 prayer and worship, so maybe 7 months after I was born (which also happened to be when my family moved from Germany to the states). I don't remember the exact day, but I was saved in September of 1999, and Ihop started in September of 1999. Somewhere in all of this, it's my prophetic history. I truly feel that intercessors had something to do with my first encounter with Jesus.

I was attending Westport Road Church of Christ with my friend Allison, my senior year in high school, 1999. We went to an Acqurie the Fire youth conference, and the Holy Spirit encountered my heart. My heart was very deceived at that time, and I didn't think that anythign in my lfie needed changing...because I was 'good.' One thing that I did know that first night, was that I was a missionary. I remember that clearly. Laying in my bed that night, I knew that my life was going to be spent to some capacity on the mission field. I also had visions that night of the cross, though I didn't really understand what was going on. I thought it was just my imagination, but looking back now, I see that it was the Lord.

Baptism, being highly emphasized in the Church of Christ, was my first step into this life as a Christian. I am thankful for my baptism, and do not doubt it's validity in any way shape or form. For the past 2 1/2 years, I have been mentored at an inner-healing ministry, where I learned much about the darkness in my heart. Over the past year or so, I have thought several times about being baptized. Wondering if I needed to be, since I had finally repented. Being in the prayer room 22 hours a week, I have had a lot of time to ask the Lord what sorts of things He wanted me to do. Baptism came up after He told me this was a season of "true repentance," and then we had a speaker come to talk to us about baptism and I just knew it was time. So, on Saturday, November 22nd, I got baptized! It was pretty neat. There were about 10 of us, we went through about 3 hours of teaching, and ministry time, and then got baptized. The second we stepped out of this huge tub that we were immersed in, a group of people were waiting for each of us to prophesy over us. That was sooo cool. They spoke over me things that I haven't actually talked to a whole lot of people about, just because I didn't know what would be said. But, these things were confirmed through them, and I was thoroughly blessed.

So, yeah. I got baptized as a declaration when I was 16, and this time it was for repentance, and deliberate pursuit of the Lord:

Mark 1:4 "John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentence for the forgiveness of sins."

Acts 2:38 Peter said "Repent and be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins."

So, I am baptized. And now, I am off to bed.