This morning I baptized a 7 year old boy who has been involved at the church with me since I’ve been in Lubbock. He ‘accepted’ Christ into his heart, and after meeting with me decided he wanted to be baptized in water. There have been quite a few kids baptized since I’ve been in Lubbock, but usually they have been performed by other pastors they are more familiar with or maybe just a relative. This morning was my first baptism at this church.
As I entered the water in the baptistery this morning I realized that something was horribly wrong! The water was FREEZING! And I don’t mean the normal room temperature, not heated kind of cold water. I mean the kind of water that makes you shake uncontrollably and forces the loss of feeling out of your extremities. There are not enough adjectives in the English dictionary to explain how cold that water was. As I stood out of view of the congregation waiting for my cue to enter and help the kid down the slippery steps, I was trying to hide my frigid state. Part of the job when baptizing a 7 year old is just keeping him calm, and not too nervous. I didn’t want him to know that I thought my legs were shriveling off my body, so I just smiled and talked him through it.
Of course when it was his time to jump in with me and be dunked, he shot me the funniest “It’s Freaking Cold in Here!” look I’ve ever seen. The church now officially has an advocate for purchasing a baptistery heater!
