Whats Crackalakin Vessels,

I want to introduce you to a dear friend of mine; Mia Fauceglia. She is completely unaware I am writing about her but I will be writing about 8-year-old Mia, not 18-year-old Mia. I also know she will love looking back on the memories I am going to share.

Take yourself back to march 2010 with me. I just turned 8 years old and celebrated with my best friend Mia. We were the same height and wore matching outfits constantly. With our baby faces and long curly brown hair, we pranced around telling everyone we were twins.

Mia’s family was my second family. Mrs. Sher and Mr. Greg were heavily involved in a portable church plant that took place in a local movie theater and middle school. Mia and I would go early with our dads to help “set-up”. This meant playing hid and seek and making our dads buy us a hot chocolate from the Starbucks a street over. One catch to this fun weekly event was that we had to attend the kids program. We enjoyed pestering the leaders (especially Jeremy) and whispering to each other until a leader sat between us. Mostly because when we were together we loved to be the center of attention (which is ironic seeing as Mia was very shy as a child). I remember one week Mia actually paid attention and truly began to have faith in Jesus. She knew her next step was baptism. She didn’t hesitate, question, ponder or postpone this action. Simply, the children’s leaders taught something that clicked with her. It made sense and so she believed. She displayed true childlike faith.

Mia’s moment is not what I am discussing today. It’s what came next. The annual summer bash–a social event the church held, early summer at the lake–was approaching and many were going to be baptized at this event. Mia was excited and I wanted to do this with her in the same way we had done everything else attached at the hip. I told my parents I wanted to be baptized at summer bash. My dad at the time had a broken leg and my parents wanted to baptize me together. My mom begged me to wait until my dad would be able to get in the water with me. I refused and in the early summer of 2010, 8-year-old Lindsay was the center of attention yet again with her best friend Mia. The church applauded and embraced us with love.

I was dunked in water.

I was not baptized.

My 8 year old heart had no change and only wanted this divine experience for selfish gain. My mom always likes to remind me that I was a child then. She tells me the 8 year old she baptized, regardless of initial motivation, displayed childlike faith. She believes that baptism was real to my 8 year old heart.

By the time I was in my preteen years I didn’t have a faith regardless if I truly had one when I was 8 like my mom believes. My lack of faith grew as preteen years became teen years. I found my life stained with sin and suffering of others and myself. The depth of my thoughts on religion were: “What God that lets the world look the way it does and be one worth my worship? At least I was baptized just incase Hell does exist.”
Oh man, I didn’t realize what I was missing.

The sumer of 2016 is when my life changed. I won’t go deep into my testimony because this post is about baptism. Long story short: God awoke my faith in him through the study of Peter walking on water with Jesus. After a powerful sermon I dedicated my life to christ during worship, surrounded by the youth group of that once portable church that became a multisite nondenomnational church that brought hundreds to christ over the years.

I told my group leader that same day that I needed to be baptized. Is it okay to be baptized multiple times? Some of my peers told me it was unnecessary. I was already baptized and I couldn’t loose my salvation. They challenged my reasoning behind take two of my baptism. I fought my human heart over insecurities I was facing concerning my confusion of my pride or salvation motivating this public proclamation of faith. The holy spirit won and plans for my baptism were for the next day.

I was baptized five hours away from home in a creek located in Tennesse. Lance Horne baptized me after being a consistent mentor. He and I shared a common struggle and he helped me give it to christ. My parents watched on facebook live with joy. I still regret not having my dad in the water with me but, I knew this middle of no where creek (with only a handful of spectators) was needed for me to feel confident in my calling to baptism.

I was baptized twice and I am confident now in my salvation. When people ask about my faith journey I rarely mention my first baptism as a child. I don’t think thats my story. I was only a character in Mia’s. You can never be too old to obey Christ in baptism. Since my second baptism I have not been perfect. I have sinned many times. My faith has been tested. I have doubted my ability to get into the word. But regardless of these shortcomings; my faith has stood and grown stronger every day. This baptism was not my first but it will be my last because I am going to continue to pursue God the way he pursued me until the end of my days on earth. This is my goal now as I study biblical theology and scripture from a more scholarly perspective. That goal is the same one I set when I first rose out of the algee polluted creek water as a renewed daughter of Christ. This God, The God of baptism, is without a doubt worthy of my worship.

So Mia… before I wrap up this post I figured I’d catch y’all up on 18-year-old Mia. Unfortunately the two of us drifted in middle school and continued to run our own circles in high school. Now we are in college in different parts of the state. We don’t talk everyday or claim to be twins anymore but I still trust her with my life. She is always a text/call away from me, and I to her.

May the spirit baptize you,
A Vessel