Let's Go Down to the River.......

Today is Laura Wagner's birthday.  She is the second-born child of Renee and Chad.  Today is number 16 for her.  A Big day for anyone that age.  But Laura decided today would not only be her sixteenth birthday, but her NEW BIRTH day!  She decided to put on Jesus Christ as her Savior in baptism.  Hallelujah!!

She and her sisters picked out a place in the river where they though would be a good place for a baptism.  Laura invited me to be join them in this important event.  The girls informed me that we would take a short hike to the river and back.  It would be fun!


So a few minutes after 11am, we took off down the path which runs along the water ditch which supplies water from the river to Chimala.


Since it is rainy season, the water ditch was full to the top!  In places, the water was actually breeching the ditch a little and the ground was soggy mud!  So gooey to step in and I am wearing my good tennis shoes! (actually, they are my only tennis shoes!) 


We walked for quite a while in the thick trees and then suddenly we opened into a grassy area with this beautiful view of the mountains.  Be mindful that all of this area is on the Chimala property.


As we drew nearer to the river, we could hear the rushing of the water.  My first view of the river revealed a very fast current.  I am telling Chad....wow, you are going to have to hold on to Laura or she will go flying down stream!  What I didn't realize for a few minutes was this was not where she wanted to be baptized.  We all had to get in the river and walk down stream a ways to get to the spot she wanted!  What??!!  Really??!!  All of us....in the r-i-v-e-r....

A side note here for those of you who don't know me well.  I do not like getting wet.  I love to canoe, but I stay in the boat!  And I don't tip over!!  Not only do I not like to get wet, but I am truly afraid of getting my face wet.  It is just a thing with me.  I wont even put my face in the water when I take a shower!!!  And, I fall easily!  Getting into a raging current in a river is not first, second or even ever a choice for me.


But in we went.  The girls, of course, were loving it!  The adults, not so much.  But the girls lead the way and we all followed.  I am in a skirt, so you will NOT see any pictures of me in the water as I attempt to stay on my feet, keep my camera dry and hold my skirt up out of the water!


Trust me, the rocks we were walking on were very slick and the current extremely strong.  Little Jonah is only 5 years old and weighs 39 pounds.  Renee was keeping a "death-grip" on him!


After Anna helped me safely to a place to stand, she attempted to go against the current to help her mom, dad and little brother safely to the area.



We finally made it to the perfect spot and there was a fallen tree for us to sit on while we witnessed the baptism.





What a wonderful day this turned out to be.  A new sister in Christ! 


And now we head back towards home. 


Finally we are safely leaving the raging river and getting back on the water ditch trail to home.
This was a great day for our team. 

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