What a month...

It's been one month since I last blogged, I can't believe it. Between my 5 jobs, 4 different ministries, bible studies, and kids activities, blogging has taken a back seat! It hasn't been an easy month, and there are MANY things to blog about, but I want to start off with the most important event.

Kenny was baptised!!!!!!

As Christians, we believe several things about Baptism, according to the Gospel:

1-Faith must preceed Baptism, so being baptized as an infant is not valid. You have to make the choice and believe for yourself before being baptised.

• "He that believes and is baptised shall be saved" -Mark 16:16.  Baptism represents a serious, life-altering commitment. It is only for those mature enough to understand the importance of their decision. Children are simply not able to properly comprehend and make such a serious and lifelong commitment. In every specific example of baptism mentioned in the Bible, we see that those being baptized were old enough and mature enough to understand repentance, baptism and the gravity of their decision. Nowhere can we find a single example of an infant or child being baptised.

2- Baptism needs to be full immersion, not a forehead sprinkling.

• All biblical examples reveal that baptism was always performed in a body of water large enough and deep enough for immersion. John 3:23, for example, tells us that John the Baptist "was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there." Matthew records that when Jesus was baptized He "came up immediately from the water" (Matthew 3:16).
  The Greek word "baptizo" means to immerse and has no other meaning.

3- Baptism is a public testemony and must be done in front of others.

• Baptism should be done in the presence of other believers after publically announcing your faith in Jesus Christ. Baptism is a public declaration of being saved and identifying oneself with their Savior. Whatever the circumstance, a true believer will obey the Lord and not be ashamed or hide their salvation.

Today also marks what would have been Tyler's 1st birthday!  We found out we were pregnant with him the day before we learned of Mackenzi's tumor. He was the light of our life during those scary and difficult weeks and we can't wait to hold him someday in Heaven and tell him how much he meant to us! We were technically 14 weeks pregnant when we lost Tyler, though the doctors said his little body had developed more like a 10 or 11 week baby. There were signs in the begining that things were not right, but when he continued to grow, we had hope! The autopsy revealed that he was most likely a boy that we miscarried because of a Trisomy defect. We lost Tyler just a few days before Mackenzi went into surgery, and I'm not sure we ever truly grieved his loss. There are things that remind us of him every day, and in those moments we grieve. 

Our hearts are heavy for you today Tyler, Happy 1st Birthday!