Wonderful Words for This Wednesday

For the past month or so, I've been serving as the baptism coordinator for my church's 20th anniversary celebration. All nine campuses are meeting on Rotary Hill in Naperville this Sunday morning for one church-wide service.

My serving includes a number of tasks, but the main one is communicating with people. So far we have 30+ baptisms scheduled for that day, with more to come, I'm certain. Things have been crazy between school starting, long hours there, and this serve. I've been fighting crankiness. It would seem God knew that, because he sent someone to renew me.

This past weekend, I started corresponding with a college freshman named Sarah who was trying to get the day off from one of her two jobs, so she could be baptized that day. She had a lot of questions, and I enjoyed "chatting" with her back and forth to answer them. It turns out she wants to be a teacher, so I've already invited her to my classroom when she's ready to check it out.

She's a sweetheart, I could just tell.

Sarah sent me her testimony, and I was so moved by it, I asked her if I could post it here.

She agreed, and I do hope you take time to read it.

"As a young child, I was always told to trust in God and that He would always be there for me. At the time, I wasn’t too keen on the idea. Going to church wasn’t the “cool” thing to do, and none of my friends were doing it. So why should I?

By no means has my life been easy.

Growing up, I was put in many bad situations, and it seemed as though nothing in my life was going as it should.

It finally seemed as though things were getting better, and then I had one doctors appointment that would turn my life upside-down.

In May, 2009, I was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

My life seemed to be at a standstill.

Being told that you have cancer at the young age of 18 isn’t something that is easy to hear.

I was more scared than I had ever been in my entire life.

It seemed as though things were continuing to spiral downward, and that I had no control in my life. I felt as though I was alone and had no one to turn to.

Shortly after my diagnosis, a friend of mine suggested that I attend a weekend service with her at her church. That was probably the best thing that I’ve ever done for myself.

I thought about what I had been told as a child, and realized that they were right.

I don’t have to go through this alone. He is there for me, and I have to trust that He will guide me through this.

Since May, I feel as though I’m a different person.

Having Him in my life has really been such a positive experience.

I’ve never been more proud of myself, and am excited for everyone to know that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. "

Sarah, whom I've yet to meet, has asked me to baptize her this Sunday. Because I'm "in charge" of the dunkings that day, she and I will be last in the water.

It is my hope, if you're there, you have applause left for this girl.

Let's all listen for the angels to be singing for her!