Jonese's Blog

Wow what an amazing Sunday. In case you've been living under a rock, or just found me recently I got baptized on Sunday. You can read about it in these posts (#1. #2. #3. #4. #5, #6).

So my day started like any other Sunday. I got up around 10 and had breakfast. My mom and niece have been in town for 3 and 2 weeks respectively so mom made scrambled eggs. From there is was some lazy time with my niece in front of the Wii where I proceeded to get pummeled in Wii Golf. It's one thing to lose to a 7 year old but to get a +20 in Wii golf during 9 holes is just plain ridiculous!

So I had a board meeting for The Unthinkable Project, aka Unthinkable with Matt, Jonathan & KT. That got started around 4pm, service wasn't till 6pm. Now up until the drive to church I was pretty numb really. Not excited, not much of anything. Just numb, or at peace, I'm not sure which one. Then as we drove to the church I started to get more and more excited. I begin smiling without reason and the radio seemed to be playing all my favorite songs no matter which station I flipped too. Needless to say I was well on my way to Cloud 9.

So our meeting got off to a late start thanks to traffic for the others. As the other board members arrived (it was really a smaller version of the normal board) each would immediately start talking about the baptism. So of course with all this talk I got more and more excited. My phone also started to get very popular as people called and sent text well wishes, can't makes it's, or "I will scream for you!" By the time 5:30 rolled around I was probably just one big smile. So I made my way to the sanctuary and took up my spot under the baptismal. At Buckhead the baptismal is on the far right side as you look at the stage and raised up about 15 - 20 feet in the air. You actually go through a special door / stair way to get to it. A couple of my friends were already in the church, having scoped out their perfect seats, so they joined me while I waited for Mike G. and Melissa M. to show up (thanks SG,JG,LM & MV). That was cool because I felt like a wall flower just standing over there. Kind of like the kid in high school who goes to the dance but never gets out on the dance floor. But I knew tonight I was going to dance!

So Mike G and Melissa show up and escort me to the blue room. It really wasn't called the blue room but I figured the green room was for back stage so the blue room was for the baptismal area. Wonder who I have to talk to in order to make that the official name. Anyways....So you go upstairs and you're in this little room about the size of a large office. It's got a TV to watch the worship, 4 chairs, a little table with lamp and plenty of gum and breath mints. You make your own inferences about the gum and mints. Across the room is a set of washer and dryers for the baptism uniforms. Which if you go through another door you get to the staging area. This then leads to separate male and female changing rooms. The rooms are setup a lot like locker rooms in a really nice gym. Expect there are no lockers, carpet is everywhere and they provide you with the hair dryer and hair gel (if you didn't bring your own product, yes I said product you can thank Aubrey for that).

I found a pair of medium shorts but had to go with the large t-shirts, the whole time i can hear Kris & Aubrey saying "You need to wear clothes that fit!" Once i picked out my uniform i hopped into my changing room. The shorts and shirts are blue, not a whole lot more can be said about them expect they were extremely comfortable and if they weren't going to be soaking wet in a few minutes I'd have taken them home.

Ok now I'm changed so we head back to the staging area. This is where Melissa gets Mike G. all mic'd up and ready to go. About this time we hear Jarrett talking about 7|22 and a bunch of other stuff. As usual the we hear a few laughs as Jarrett tries to lighten the mood for the new comers. Once Mike is all mic'd up, yes we had a hard time saying it as well, we head out to the blue room to wait for Carlos to finish the 3 songs him and the band were performing.

The final song Carlos performed was Glory to God, which was written by Steve Fee & Vicky Beeching. This song is awesome! I would love to link to the song or words but unfortunately it's still too new. Anyway's this song absolutely epitomizes my feelings currently about Christ and my life. Carlos even took the time after the first song to explain the final two which just added more power to the evening. God was truly on stage that night as they rocked it out! I stood at the top of the stairs of the baptismal pool and watched him perform. I sang along and got really caught up in the moment. There were a few times I had to take a few deep breaths to keep my emotions under control.

So the song ends and we pray. Then my testimony fires up on the big screen and we enter the pool to watch and get ready. If you think it's an odd feeling to hear yourself talk try listening and watching yourself talk on a jumbo-tron! So I'm watching myself, self pay attention to self this is important (sorry that was for my Oasis group!), and start to feel the emotions swell. I'm smiling like a crazy man probably at this point. Then the video ends and the lights come on. They are SOO Bright! I couldn't see anything past the baptismal pool, but that didn't matter because as soon as the light shown down on me and Mike G. the sanctuary erupted in an amazing noise of joy and praise. I totally lost it there. Just raised a fist in glory and bowed my head out of humility.

Mike said a few wonderful words and then baptized me. Here's a secret, I just bent my knees like I was sitting down and then he leaned me back so it wasn't like a ballroom dip, more of a Lindey hop dip :). Once I came up it was an immediate victory. I was tingling all over, so jazzed I couldn't do anything but raise my arms up, point to heaven and think "in your name". then I turned to Mike G. and just gave him the biggest, wettest hug I think he's ever gotten. I know he wasn't expecting it but I didn't care I had to hug someone.

After that moment it was a few steps out of the pool and then back to the changing room. Mike G. mentioned he thought about cracking a joke about me hiring people off the street to shout because it was very loud, probably the loudest he's ever heard it. God at work again.

The message that night was awesome, what I heard of it. Honestly I was still tingling so much and on such a high I couldn't really pay attention (Sorry Clay). I just kept playing the events over in my head and giving Him praise and thanks.

Following the service began the made rush of hugs, congratulations and thank you's. We headed up to Mellow Mushroom just up the road in Brookhaven. About 50 people showed up and it was awesome. This was one of the few times all of my groups were together at once. So many people there who didn't know one another laughing, sharing, and all in fellowship. It was truly the best representation of Gods love I've seen.

It was an amazing night for sure. So many people to thank, so many people to hug. Tonight wasn't about me though. It was about Jesus Christ and what he did for me, you and everyone else on this ball of rock we call home. Glory to God, Glory to God.