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My 43rd Re-Birthday πŸŽ‚


AI image created by Wombo Dream AI using the prompt: "A brunette woman stands in the deep water next to an older pastor in a large Christian immersion baptismal pool. There are beautiful paintings of flowers, waterfalls, streams, and butterflies on the fencing around the pool, plus lots of living plants around the pool. Both the woman and her pastor are wearing modest white robes. Her robe is very modest even though it's soaking wet. The woman has just been baptized, so she is saturated and drenched from the experience and yet she has a soft peaceful grin. The pastor's sleeves are wet from dunking her in the water. There is a peaceful and heavenly glow over the entire scene." A colorful paint-splash frame added by the Photo Studio Pro app for Android.
AI (Wombo) Baptism Scene by Crystal A Murray (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

It wasn’t my first baptism, but it was THE baptism that marked a total and complete change in my life. I was desperate to be saved and to have God’s perfect will as the driving force from that moment on.

My first baptism was with many people in a swimming pool. I was sincere, but I was 9 years old, so it wasn’t the kind of sincerity you have after you’ve lived through some of the rough coming-of-age moments that bring you from 9 to 19. In those moments, I had been to juvenile hall; been in foster care; moved around California, Nevada, and Arizona; overdosed; and lived on the streets for a while. I was really ready to stop doing things my own way and see if God’s way was better. (Spoiler alert: life is MUCH better with a loving Creator and Heavenly Father by your side.)

I’d also had a baptism at 14 when my high-school aged boyfriend said he was getting baptized. And since my first baptism was at a Pentecostal church, everyone suggested I needed a Baptist church baptism anyway. Again, I was sincere, and I did make lifestyle changes that followed the baptism. I went from getting suspended in school to being double honor roll and graduating 8th grade with honors.

But the event in 1983 was the significant life change that stuck for the rest of my lifeβ€”up to and including now. So today, I celebrate 43 years as a new person. The old me was buried with Christ in baptism, and I rose out of the water to walk with Him in the newness of life. ✝️🧬

Romans 6:4 BSB
[4] We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.

https://bible.com/bible/3034/rom.6.4.BSB

Shabbat Shalom to all, and you are welcome to celebrate with me by sharing your own repentance and baptism stories in the comments. πŸ•ŠοΈ

July 17, 2026 - Posted by | AI, AI Image Creations, Bible, Christianity, memories, Nonfiction, Photo Studio Pro app, Sabbath/Shabbat, salvation, Slice of Life, special days, testimony, Wombo Dream | , , , , , , , ,

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