I'm Ready To Be Baptized

Fall 2009 has proved to be quite memorable! On Sunday October 11th while sitting in church, the pastor called for the doors of the church to be opened and my son opened his heart and confessed unto the Lord his desire to be baptized! Zaige tapped me on the shoulder and said that he wanted to go to the front of the church. Although he had professed the desire to be baptized ever since Sabryn's summer baptism and on his own learned the Lord's prayer, I still felt the need to question him before I allowed him to walk down to the front of the church. I asked him a few questions. Zaige answered me with conviction, pure innocence, and honesty. I felt in my heart he was ready.We scheduled the baptism for October 25, 2009 so that G-mama could attend. Since the state fair was in town, we decided to kick that weekend off with family fun at the fair. Pam took a half day and checked Zion out of school (Simone had a test but would join us later), Tomeka and her family took the day off, and I checked the boys out of school so that we all could enjoy a fun filled day at the Louisiana State Fair! The children had a blast! Even though the weather was chilly, they all had fun riding on the dated rides and eating fried elephant ears! Sederrick and his gang came in on Saturday. G-mama made a special trip to Shreveport to witness her oldest grandchild's baptism. Even though it was short notice and with the price of plane tickets these days---there was no stopping her wish to be in attendance on that day. All of the family in Georgia would have loved to attend. It proved to be well worth it--Zaige was so excited and surprised to see his G-mama! We spent the weekend bustling around town getting hair cuts, gifts, and acquiring last minute items necessary to make Sunday a memorable day. I stayed up all Saturday night cooking Zaige's favorites: seafood gumbo, macaroni and cheese, greens, turkey and gravy, green beans, and cornbread muffins. The dessert was taken care of courtesy of G-mama and Sederrick. Sederrick and Tomeka kept me awake by going back and forth amongst each other reading Push in their best interpretive Claireece Precious Jones voices. Sunday morning, surprisingly Zaige was not nervous. He said, "I'm ready to be baptized!" My child was relaxed and confident---He was ready. We all hurriedly dressed. Mama, Zaige, Kingson, and Ivory left to pickup G-mama and we would all meet at the church. While dressing Zaige in the baptismal gowns in a backroom of the church, I couldn't believe that my son was now maturing into adolescence. The call from the pastor instructed us that the time was now-- A wave of emotion came over me as we walked up the narrow staircase. Thank you Lord for this truly was a day that you have made! Zaige, my oldest child was baptized.