"I do"

This past Sunday, I said "I do" in front of a congregation and on the church altar but this time not for a wedding but for my baptism. Most people are baptized either as an infant or young child, I obviously never was. I used to be ashamed that I had not taken that step in my life but after going through it this past weekend I am glad I waited and it was another moment shared between Russ and I. I got to make the decision that I was ready and I truly understood what I had chosen to do.

I grew up going to church until late elementary school. I started going to a Church of Christ church (my mom and her family's faith) but told my mom I wanted to sing in a choir, not like I can actually sing, so we started going to a Presbyterian church and in the summers I went to Vacation Bible School at my Grandma's church which was Baptist. I was introduced to numerous denominations growing up but never felt comfortable at one. I got very involved in soccer which took up every day of the week with games and tournaments on the weekends. Needless to say besides holidays I wasn't going to church until Russ came into my life.

Church is a very important part of Russ's life and I knew it needed to be apart of mine if we were going to get married. I started to go to church with him while we were dating. We would go to his church back home and one summer I went to Sunday school there. I started to feel the connection. Once we got married, we started to search for a church that we both wanted to attend. We went to a couple of different churches and found the one that was perfect for us, Chamblee First United Methodist. Over the past year, I felt my connection with the church and God grow and grow and knew it was time for me to be baptized.

This past Sunday was another important day of our marriage. Russ stood by my side when I was baptized then he said the vows to transfer his membership to Chamblee. After the service, we were greeted by numerous members and really felt at home. I not only got baptized and joined a church, but also going to help with the Young Adult Ministry at the church. This time the "I DO" vows were said for another chapter in my life and I am so glad to have Russ there to guide me through it.

Chamblee First United Methodist Church