Beginnings

This post is a bit out of order, but I wanted to go back and show pictures from it.
Want to take a moment to shine a spotlight on the Baptism.
An important person in this story is Pastor Biermann. He is one of many people who have gone above and beyond the call of duty over this past week. I spoke with him later in the day after Mary Jane’s water broke and he offered words of comfort and promised to pray for God’s mercy (as many of you did…thank you). He told me not to hesitate to call him if I needed anything, and so when Mary Jane began bleeding and it became apparent the babies were coming I took him up on his offer. He was on the way back into town and graciously drove straight over to the hospital to be with us. He sat with my mother-in-law and a friend of the family (Emily) while I was in with Mary Jane in the operating room. He then sat with another friend of mine (Paul) over at Children’s while I waited with the girls in the NICU until they were on the machines. Pastor Biermann and Paul then came back and we baptized them. Unfortunately Mary Jane couldn’t be down there (something which I will always be a little sad about) but I was glad Paul was there because he was able to document it with these pictures. All told he was probably there five hours or so and he has checked in with us everyday since then. Even though he will probably never read this I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank him. He was the vehicle which brought the peace of God to us during a crazy time, and was the instrument used in my daughters’ baptism. Thank you.
As I go back and look at pictures of the Baptism of the girls I find my mind wandering to Mark chapter 2. Probably not the text most Christians would expect me to jump to. Truth be told not the text I would naturally have expected my mind to go to…but I think it fits.
This is the story of the paralytic and his friends. Jesus is teaching in a house and things are so crowded these friends can’t bring the friend into the house. These clever friends figure, ehh no big deal. Let’s just climb up on the roof. Cut a hole in the roof of the house and lower him right in front of Jesus. They seem to have this clear understanding that nothing is going to get in the way of them bringing this guy to Jesus because he is the only one who can solve their problems. So they’re lowering the guy down and Jesus looks us, sees their faith and says “Your sins are forgiven.” Now in today’s day and age this is easy to just run on by. We hear sins being forgiven left and right, it is a phrase often said with a little too much flippancy. But back then…this was just plain crazy talk. And all the people in the crowd new it. Remember this is Mark 2, the beginning of Jesus public ministry. Jesus has a reptutation, but not necessarily as being “the Son of God.” So everyone in the crowd starts grumbling. Who does this guy think he is? Only God can forgive sins.
Well it turns out Jesus knows exactly who he is, and yes…he fits those qualifications for forgiving sins just fine. He ponders which would be harder to forgive sins or to instaneously heal the paralytic, and then goes and heals the paralytic to prove that he does indeed have the authority to forgive sins. People are stunned and amazed. You kind of wish they would have pulled a Thomas and said “My Lord, and My God” but instead they seem to just marvel at him.
Anyway what is jumping out to me right now about this story is the order of things. Jesus starts off by forgiving the guy’s sins. Because, that’s the bigger problem. He can live as a paralytic, he can die as a paralytic, but if he dies bearing the consequences for his own sin…now that’s a problem that won’t get fixed. He then is gracious enough to grant the healing as well, but that is a secondary thing in this instance.

I guess that is kind of where we are right now. Parker and Emma Jane were called by God in their baptism. They have received that forgiveness of sins, and now we’re asking for the healing. Course we’re not sitting around wondering about Jesus’ credentials. We know and trust that he has the authority to extend his promise to our daughters, and we know and trust he has the authority to tell them to “pick up their mat’s and walk”. Will he do it?
I don’t know. Who’s to say he hasn’t already? Their alive. There was no guarantee in that. Their doing well right now. And let’s face it. Whatever else comes, they’ve been given life etneral, that’s nothing to sneeze at. (course…I still wouldn’t mind 80 or 90 years of life here with some grandbabies and great-grandbabies some day…really really wouldn’t mind it, but then…that’s why we’re all still praying.)

Hmm. This will probably come as a big shocker, but I’ve gotten rambly. It’s late. Here are the pictures.