It was 15 years ago on March 19th that I proclaimed that Jesus was my Lord! It was a glorious day and it was made more special because my mom was there! I remember her telling me afterwards that I had already been baptized as a baby, so she didn’t understand why I was baptized again. In my young Christian zeal, I tried so hard to make my mom see the truth. At one point, she even said that I had changed so much, she thought I was in a cult!
I grew frustrated and I shared my grief with our church leader (Gregg Eargle). He gave me great words of wisdom – just be the best disciple and daughter I can be. I took from him that my focus was not on God. So, I focused on God and my mom started to see Him! Over the past 15 years, my mom has attended a number of church services. My husband and I always invited her to special events at church, too. She even went to a Florida Discipleship Conference (but didn’t go to any classes). She has enjoyed fellowship with my brothers and sisters at my wedding shower, wedding, and baby shower. When I had hardships in my life, she would see my brothers and sisters surrounding me with love. For a few years, she was part of a fantasy football league made up of disciples.
Through all of those encounters with Christians, my mom started to let God into her life. Tragedy struck our family in October 2012. My mom was living with her sister (my aunt) and mom (my grandmother). Her sister moved to Tennessee to be with her daughters and a week later, her mom passed away. My mom had some health problems, and was in the hospital when all of this happened. I believe that she had come to the end of her rope…she was depressed, lonely, and without hope.
My husband and I continued to reach out to my mom and invite her to church. To my joy, she came one Sunday…and the next Sunday….and
started to go to our House Church meetings on Wednesdays! In February 2013, my husband and I purchased her home and moved in with her. Around the same time, my mom started studying the Bible with some amazing women at church (Janice Gregory and Ruth Bahr). I was at a birthday party with my family when Janice called me to tell me that my mom would be baptized! My mom gave my husband and I the honor of baptizing her! Despite the obstacle of using a walker to get around, my mom was determined to get baptized. So, she used the walker to get in the cold pool water with the help of my wonderful husband and Carlos LaCosta.
Almost 15 years after my baptism, my mom became my sister in Christ (March 16th)! Thank you to all of my brothers and sisters that helped water the seed and to God be the glory!
1 Corinthians 3:6-9
I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
