God Loves Us...Pruny Fingers and All!

Today I met with a 6 year old boy who had told his mom that he wants to be baptized. So we agreed to meet all together and talk about what that means. The main thing I told he and his twin sister to remember about our meeting about baptism was this one thing: God loves you.

Then we started talking about water. When I asked what water does for us, I got the standard answers: quenches thirst, cleanses, helps plants grow, etc. Then the little girl chimed in, "It makes your fingers pruny when I sit in the bath for too long!" I laughed and gave this some thought. If baptism is a sign and seal of God's unconditional love for us, and the water is means of that sign and seal, then God loves us through it all, pruny fingers and all. I had to laugh about this for a moment and take in the pure innocence and genius of children.

Pruny fingers...means we need or want to get out of the water. Pruny fingers means that our bodies are reacting to too much water. So even when there are times that we want to give up on our faith in God, even when there are times that there seems to be too much "stuff" in our lives, that God won't give up on us, and when there are times we are imperfect (which is everyday!!), God's love remains.

Baptism...the sign and seal of God's love that is present even before we are aware of it. That water mark that we carry with us throughout our lives to remind us of God's love and we are continually be on a journey to love and serve God. And the reminder that God loves us....pruny fingers and all!