My Cup Runneth Over

This summer I have had the blessing of witnessing three of my young cousins get baptized. Abby, Justice and Emily. Abby was saved at church camp, Justice probably prayed at home I am not sure, and Emily was with her grandma Margaret (my aunt) and Abby at the 4-H camp at Ferndale. My cup runneth over. These baptisms have been extra special to me and I'm very glad I was able to be there for all of them. Another of my young cousins, Tyler, passed away in May. I was able to witness his baptism a few years ago and that has given me a great deal of comfort as I still grieved.

Tyler, Emily and

Abby were all baptized at Oak Grove Baptist Church near my grandmother's house. I love going there. It's where my parents were married. Where my grandpa's funeral was. It has that smell that brings back memories. I must have gone there as a child for VBS or something. I think all old country churches smell the same. Like glue and panelling.

Oak Grove services are interesting. The sermons are short, thank goodness (ha!), but the singing is the BEST. They have Heavenly Highway Hymnals. They have regular hymnals too, which they call "the white book". Singing in that church feels different than my church. I go to a big church in a nice modern building. This church was built decades ago. It's had some face-lifts you can tell. There's nice wainscoting up to the chair rail and then they put paneling above that. Turquoise is the color of fabric covering the pews, the carpet and the hip vertical blinds. I was there on Father's Day for Abby's baptism

and Sunday night for Emily's. This week they observed the Lord's Supper. They have closed communion which is when only the actual church members can take communion. There were Lots of visitors Sunday because of the baptisms. So, the preacher had the bright idea to have all the members gather in the aisle so it would be easier to pass out the crackers & juice. A few years ago I would've thought Oak Grove was stuck in a rut and old fashioned, but as I get older I realize that just because it's a small church doesn't mean it's a dead church. Their baptismal waters are stirring and they have a mission field right in the community. I'm glad Oak Grove is there.

My dad and I took Abby, Emily, Chance & Cody to Memphis one Saturday this summer. Here are some pics.