Tori

On Sunday I baptized Tori in the Parks' swimming pool. It was a cool day (actually, it was smoking hot!). I regretted that the other kids were not there to see it, but it was the day she chose, and it was the right day in so many ways.

Tori has a child-like faith. When people ask if she was ready or if she knew what she was doing, I'm not sure how to respond to them. Where do we get this idea that someone has to pass a test or "know" certain things in order to enter the kingdom? Haven't we understood Matthew 18:1-4 yet? It seems that by the time we think kids are "ready," they are already "ruined" like us big people.

As I reflect on that day, like most "big days," it seemed like a blur that quickly passed. Yet it is the real process she has been going through, the journey she has been on, that impacts me. The day was but a marker for something much more real and ongoing. Kind of like how fleeting a wedding ceremony is when compared to the overall ongoing relationship between lovers.

Tori, I love you. Teach me to receive the kingdom. I hope someday I will be ready like you are.