Dip

By Pastor Paul Gauche

Today’s Word: ‘Dip’ as in… it’s time for dipping, sprinkling, plunging, immersing, covering, as in… baptism. Conversations with parents about the baptism of their children unsurprisingly include a wide range of topics. We cover the waterfront from the Crossing of the Red Sea and how that story relates to parenting, the meaning of names, and the power of identity. Many parents wonder why we still do this; wasn’t it part of an ancient subculture a long time ago in a land far, far away?

As the conversations turn practical, parents ask, “Where do we stand, what do we say, how do we hold the baby over the font without dropping her in it?” Stranger things have happened. Parents also love to talk about what it’s like to be in this stage of life. Some of them just love to get out of the house for a while!

At some point in the conversation, we begin to imagine the potential in their children. I ask them, “Who’s in the room?” Is there a musician in the room? Is there an athlete in the room? Is there a doctor, a nurse, a writer, a mechanic, a pastor, a retail salesperson in the room? Is there a mentor, a singer, a painter, a road worker, a poet, a pilot, an Uber/Lyft driver, a magazine editor, a listener, a speaker, a diplomat, a president, a day-care provider, a teacher in the room? Is there someone in the room who will one day discover a cure for cancer? Imagine that! Just imagine God’s Dream unfolding in and through our kids! Imagine God’s Dream and how God calls us to partner in ways we can hardly imagine! Who’s in the room? That is an important, generative question! In the midst of all that, we know this one thing for sure: God is in the room, and the Spirit is always present. Our kids and grandkids are learning about the Creator, the creation, and how we’ve been created to be creative! This is a great conversation, for sure! So let’s have it! It’s time for some dipping!

#100days50words

Paul Gauche is the Pastor of Life Transitions at Prince of Peace. His posts are part of his #100days50words project, where he blogs about a different word each day. You can follow his project on Instagram (@pgauche) or his blog,  Thriv’ëra.