It's the Weekly Recap!

* Sunday was a hard day...the first day without Kaegan. So I gave myself permission to be sad and rest. After church, I came home and took a long nap, and when I got up, I baked Snickerdoodles for Olivia's wedding. I don't know whether or not I've ever made Snickerdoodles before, but these were awfully good! I tested them...only seemed right before serving them to the masses. I also watched the Little House on the Prairie marathon on Hallmark. How I love that show.


* Monday, I made my first commute in the fog. Managed to get on the interstate without getting squashed. A good start to the day. At lunch, we had Jamie's going away party. Check out this cake...from Coldstone. Be still my beating heart. Monday evening, I got to have dinner with Jenny...remember her from Monday lunch dates? Oh I've missed her! One nice thing about dinner...don't have to hurry! We had the best talk over pancakes (courtesy of IHOP...not my cooking).

* Tuesday was my first day to run the phones (alone) at work during the show, after being on the air again in sort of an impromptu manner. I was NERVOUS! But I managed to keep everyone connected...thank the LORD. (No, seriously! Matter of praise!) And after work, Jamie took me to a park in Fort Wayne and introduced me to its beauty. I needed a new place to visit now that I've lost my standard local places. Look how pretty!! * Wednesday evening I got my manicure for Olivia's wedding. Purple Shellac! Love it. And then I came home and made three batches of almost caramel surprise brownies for the wedding.
I also decided to go to bed early that night because it was my last opportunity to do so this week!

* Thursday was Jamie's last day at WBCL. It didn't feel real...when she left, I told her I didn't cry because it didn't feel real, not because I didn't care. Thursday night was also Olivia's bachelorette party. We went on a scavenger hunt around town, and I was instructed to try on this fabulous bridesmaid dress... Olivia has taken such good care of her bridesmaids. I guess I shouldn't speak for the others, but I feel pretty doggone loved. She's gone way out of her way to make it special for us. No bridezilla here! :)

* Friday was my first day to engineer alone and I'm not even close to kidding - I almost threw up. I was so NERVOUS!!! I knew I knew how to do the job, but it was kind of a crazy show that day and I got mentally thrown off my game and I didn't recover well. Friday evening I went to Tom and Olivia's wedding rehearsal/rehearsal dinner. I LOVE THESE TWO:
Rehearsal was so much fun...and dinner was uh.ma.zing. A breakfast buffet. (aka happiness in a...buffet.)

* And Saturday...I had the honor of being a bridesmaid in Tom and Olivia's wedding. What a beautiful ceremony...a beautiful, God-honoring day. So very thankful to have been chosen to be part of it. Can't wait to tell you more about it this week. My dress fit, my hair was more than I could have hoped for, and I had SO MUCH FUN (when I wasn't sweating to death.)
Books I'm Reading: Well...not a lot of time to read (again) this week, but I squeezed in Jesus Calling, Sparkling Gems from the Greek, Entrusting Your Dreams to God, and Forever in Love with Jesus. Granted, not a LOT of reading in any of them...but some.

Favorite God-Moment of the Whole Week: I had the opportunity to pray with Tom and Olivia after their wedding rehearsal - and that was a very powerful moment. Several had been praying over the sanctuary before I got in there, and God's presence was just very powerful in the room. It was an honor to get to pray with them.

Update on Last Week's Goals: Clearly I SURVIVED! It was a busy week and there were so many things that never got done (sorting mail, doing laundry, cooking, working out...really most general life things) but I did so very greatly enjoy everything about the week. I got through Jamie leaving...and Olivia's wedding week! I feel good!

Goals for the Coming Week: Begin to establish a new normal after a month of craziness! I want to get back into a routine of chores and regular life. I also want to be able to enjoy my sister's visit! She's coming to do my moving sale, and I'm so excited to see her!

July: Done

Well...it's almost done. :) But tomorrow is weekly recap day, so we're rounding out the month a day early.

This month wasn't really any slower than June! So buckle your seat belts and sail through the past four weeks with me.

* Of course the biggest news was starting my new job at WBCL. Talk about a total career change! I went from reading federal regulations and running a calculator all day to learning to engineer a control panel and hunting down potential guests through all manner of interesting search methods. (Channeling my inner Locater.) I adore this job and know for certain that this was the God-ordained step for me right now.

* Made all sorts of new friends at the station. They are one great bunch of people, let me tell you. I never felt anything less than loved and completely welcomed. That's a huge step for a girl who never used to fit in anywhere!

* Participated in my first parade at the Three Rivers Festival in Fort Wayne. I helped carry the station banner - and the parade was even on TV. It was a fun day and a great ice-breaker into the new job.

* Became a commuter for the first time in my life. The drive is truly not bad. It's a straight shot and most days the traffic isn't heavy at all. I don't mind the time in the car...usually turns into worship, which is great. But I'm not interested in being a commuter all my life. Not my gift.

* I was baptized in a pond in a beautiful service that I loved so much. After months of planning it and wondering what it would be like, I absolutely loved the way it turned out. So many people said it was "so Bekah." I think that's supposed to be a good thing. :) I loved that it was personal and had a theme and was just gorgeous.

* Had a party for thirty or so people after the baptism was over. That was a lotta cooking! I don't often have a large group of people over because my house isn't really set up for that many people. But we had a great time and new friendships were formed right here under this roof. That made me pretty happy. That's what home is about for me.

* Sorted, sorted, sorted through a whole household (and attic) of stuff for things I wanted to put in a moving sale in preparation for my sister's upcoming visit to do the whole sale from start to finish. Eleven years in one house leads to accumulation.

* Became "more official" at work after receiving my business cards, going to my photo shoot, and having my on-air introduction. I think I'm a real person now! Those were some fun moments for sure!

* Embraced my inner Paula Abdul by serving as a judge for the Campus Challenge competition again this year.

* Said goodbye to my sweet baby kitty, Kaegan, who died on July 23rd at the age of ten. I miss him terribly. I always knew the day would come when I'd have to say goodbye...I just never thought it would be this soon.

* Participated in "wedding week" for Miss Olivia...including her bachelorette party, the rehearsal/dinner, and today...the wedding!

Stone Altar: End of July

July's Interesting Factoids

I have four weeks under my belt now as the Mid-Morning producer, and I have to tell you...never a dull moment in this job. Sure, it's busy as busy goes, but it's also just flat out interesting. I'm learning all kinds of stuff and Jamie has assured me that never ends.

So here are some of the things I learned on the job this month.

* Did you know you can make play dough out of dryer lint? It's true. Or so a book says. I've actually never tried it myself. Combine 3 cups dryer lint (pulled apart), 2 cups water, 1 cup flour and 1/2 tsp vegetable oil in a pot. Stir continuously over low heat until the mixture is smooth and binds together. Pour it onto wax paper to cool. - Real Simple's 869 New Uses for Old Things (I kind of want to know who figured that out.)

* Did you know you had an intrauterine environment? One of the show's regular guests is a health and nutrition expert and when she was on this month, she kept talking about the lifelong impact we all have from our intrauterine environment. I looked at Jamie and said, "I think I'll stop blaming everything on my childhood and start blaming it on my intrauterine environment."

* If you ever break that little plastic keyless entry remote for your car...here's a trick I learned for reattaching it to your keychain without forking out the dough for an expensive new remote. A listener suggested buying knee high hose, slipping the remote down into the hose, pulling it tight around the remote, tying it onto the keychain and then cutting off the rest of the hose. You can still see the buttons through the hose. Love it!

* Are you familiar with the term "quackery?" A guest used it and it made me giggle, so I looked it up. A quack (which I always thought meant a crazy person) is actually "a pretender to medical skill; a charlatan and one who talks pretentiously without sound knowledge of subject discussed." Word of the day. Quackery. If you need other words to throw into daily conversation, try gustatory or plumage.

* Ever heard of Flat Daddies? I think this was my personal favorite product that I learned about this month on the show. Flat Daddy posters are for kids whose dad( or mom...there are Flat Mommies too) is deployed. The lifesize, from-the-waist-up posters can be taken with families on trips, to special occasions, or just put in the house as a bit of comfort. I loved the stories Elaine Dumler told the day she was on our show - I got a little tear in my eye! (Of course, I'm a sucker for all those coming home shows on TV.) I think this is a great and thoughtful product for kids who miss Dad or Mom during deployment. Great program!

Change

During my interview with Jamie on the air last week, I mentioned I'm not a huge fan of change. Lynne joined the conversation at that point to say how much it surprised her to hear that. Apparently my ability to embrace all the new things thrown at me in this last month made her think I love change.

I guess that's what a year in a desert will do to you. (Okay so I wasn't in the desert for a whole year, but the journey has been a year in the making.)

When I hired into Financial Aid, I was hired to be a loan counselor. That was my assignment. Learn loans inside and out, and process all loans for all students all the time. I hadn't been on the job very long when they changed the office structure. I was issued a caseload of students and my job was to do all aspects of the aid process for that group of students. And as dear, sweet Lois will tell you, I did not like that idea. She spent many hours in my office trying to convince me to embrace that change.

Or any change.

When I met Isaac and fell in love, I realized life was about to change. If we got married, I'd have to quit my job...move to another town where I didn't know anyone...give up my cats (he was allergic)...embrace a new church...make new friends...find a new job. And for the first time in my life, that didn't scare me. I loved him so much that those things seemed minimal sacrifices to make in exchange for the opportunity to share life with him.

And then our world fell apart. Everything changed, but nothing changed in the way I thought it would. All the details of my life stayed the same, but everything that mattered was ripped from my heart. And through that gut-wrenching time, I learned to, as the hymn says, "take as from a Father's hand...one by one, the days, the moments fleeting, til I reach the Promised Land." I decided the details didn't matter nearly as much as I thought they did.

Then this year came. I didn't marry Isaac, but I quit my job...and I'm preparing to move to another town where I don't know anyone...God just asked me to give up one of my cats...and I'm going to have to embrace a new church...I'm already making new friends...and I have a new job.

It's not what I planned. The details are nothing as I expected them to be. But the change is happening despite the brokenness of the original plan.

Sunday night, my friend Becca left me a comment on Facebook, under the picture of Kaegan that I posted in his memory. She said something like "Can you handle any more changes?" And the answer is...yes. Do I want to? Maybe not this week. But I'm learning I'm nowhere near in charge of my life. And if He sends changes, I'll take them. Whether it's one blessing at a time or one blow at a time...I'll take them.

Ode to Jamie

Jamie has written all these great odes as part of her goodbye process. An ode to WBCL...an ode to her roommate...I love them.

I stink at odes. Odes are poetry. And I'm well aware that "falling short" doesn't begin to cover my inability to create masterful (or mediocre) poetry.

So essentially I'm calling this an Ode to Jamie because I cave to peer pressure and want to fit in with her. But really it's just a glorified letter.

Dear, Dear Jamie,

I remember the day I walked into the station (fashionably late) and you left your post at the phones to settle me into my chair in the studio so I could listen to all the interviews ahead of mine. And I remember talking to you after the interview ended and knowing in my heart you were a kindred spirit. (Precious few of those abound in this world.)

And later that night when you emailed me to tell me you were interested in forming a friendship, my heart surged with joy...there's an inexplicable comfort in being chosen back. You know?

Our friendship (appropriately) began at Starbucks...oh if only we'd known how important coffee would become to our future! Over skinny caramel macchiatos we began that awkward sharing of information - each of us longing to be real but hoping the other would understand and accept the random offerings of information.

I quickly learned you have a heart for the Lord that far exceeds the ordinary. You sent emails of encouragement, laced with Scripture, offered your prayers and words of deep wisdom. You challenged me in ways no one else had. And you did it all with love and grace.

The day you told me you were leaving for California, you caught me completely off guard. I was so excited for your new adventures...and yet God wasted no time in stirring my heart about your job.

I love it that one of my favorite stories is one I get to share with you...the story of how God directed us both. How He wove our storylines together for that time.

Coming to work with you has been the smoothest transition of my life. (I don't believe smooth and transition have ever before been used in the same sentence when I'm behind its crafting.) You planned so well...you and your 39 page manual...and you have made this job so easy for me to love.

You leave big shoes to fill...or is it big pants cuffs to trip over?...and I know I won't always do it with the finesse you did, but I promise to love and embrace it just like you did. I promise to give it everything I have in me (which before coffee, granted, may be minimal) and do my very best to make you proud.

And every time I go into that studio and sit in "my" seat...I'll think of you and that first day.

And I'll try to remember to turn on the headset.

Mmmkay Pumpkin?

Bek

In the Classroom

I have mentioned in the Weekly Recap the past few weeks that I'm working my way through Judith Couchman's Bible study called Entrusting Your Dreams to God. It's a study on Hannah, and Marie and I are discussing it together.

This past chapter got me. It flattened me to the point I had to call Marie and tell her I needed another week to finish the chapter because I wasn't ready to go on. (I never do that.) But I wanted to elaborate on this little lesson I learned. It was my favorite God moment from last week, and it was so good, I thought maybe someone else could learn from it too. So come sit in the classroom with me.

This particular chapter focuses on the portion of time when Samuel had already gone to live in the temple with Eli, and Hannah just saw him once a year when she visited during the annual sacrifice.

The book said, "Once Hannah left Samuel with the old priest, she faced the emotions of living a lifetime without her son. How did she manage day to day? The Bible doesn't say. But through her yearly visits to the temple, we observe a consistently God-fearing woman. And we see that there are blessings for those who persistently obey."

I remember last year in the desert, the gut-wrenching cry I always uttered was find me faithful. I knew people didn't understand why I was willing to wait for Isaac, because they were already convinced he'd never come back. I knew people didn't understand how much I loved him or why. But in my heart, I knew God had called me to stay and that was all that mattered. I wanted to be found faithful.

As I sprawled on the floor of the station office reading this study last week, I wondered when the last time was I asked God to find me faithful. I realized I'd lost that consistency in my post-desert life.

I continued reading - this time in 1 Samuel 2. "Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, 'May the Lord give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to the Lord.' Then they would go home. And the Lord was gracious to Hannah; she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters" (vv. 20-21).

This is what the Lord impressed upon my heart as I read those verses (aka - how He applied it to my life...I'm not exactly in Hannah's boat).

The Lord could choose to give me someone to take the place of Isaac - the one I prayed for and gave to the Lord. Depending on the day, my heart struggles back and forth between believing God has another plan for me in the post-Isaac life and feeling that I will just be alone since he chose to leave. And truthfully I've never liked the word "replaced." I loved him. He was irreplaceable. I didn't like that concept. But seeing it right here in Scripture opened the door of my heart a little. Perhaps God does have a plan to replace that love. I certainly did pray for Isaac and I did offer him and our love to the Lord...who chose to take it.

Sometimes I have to go home. The verses say that after Eli prayed over them, they went home. Back to life as normal. Day after day. Laundry. Cooking. Routine. And perhaps that is the season I'm in right now. Going home. Living life...granted a crazy life right now...but life. Nothing might "happen" in this season, but it might be a necessary season anyway.

The Lord was gracious. I have a hard time accepting grace. And I know God longs for me to understand His grace. He was gracious to Hannah...gave her abundant children to replace the one she gave to Him. And perhaps someday He'll be gracious and give me love to replace the love I gave to Him.

I highlighted those verses in my Bible...and I put the date beside them. I have a feeling someday I'll get to look back (with great joy) and see how God brought those things to pass in my life. He's good like that.

Little Kaegan James 3/11/01-7/23/11

My sweet boy is gone.
I didn't put it in the weekly recap because it felt wrong to just throw that into the list of what happened last week.

He's been sick for about a month, and I knew last week especially that his days were numbered. Several asked me if I had taken him to the vet, and I didn't. Kaegan had to go to the vet often in his younger years and had some experiences there that traumatized him (NOT the vet's fault) to the point where the doctor said the mere act of bringing him in put him through so much stress that it wasn't good for him. When I realized he was sick this time, I knew taking him to the vet would only put him through the same type of trauma again - and I didn't want that for him. I'm sure some are judging me for that decision, but I stand by it. I knew him better than anyone and I know it was the right thing.

He didn't seem to be in pain...he never cried or flinched when I touched him, but he just got progressively thinner and weaker.

Last Thursday night, I sat beside him on the floor, just petting him and talking to him. I told him how much I loved him and that I hoped I'd been a good mom to him. Sometimes I worried I wasn't. He had such a quirky personality. He didn't like to be held....he only liked to be touched on his own terms...and he wasn't social at all. A good day in his mind was hiding in the closet...or behind the bathroom door...or under the fat chair...only coming out for food and bathroom breaks. I respected his loner personality but sometimes wondered if he felt neglected. Probably not. He was, after all, a boy.

I found him Saturday when I came home from the dress fitting. I knew even as I drove home, that when I got here, he would be gone. Seeing him...and knowing...was so hard. I called my Dad, and he and Mom came over right away. Dad wrapped him up in one of my well-loved hair dye towels and put him in a box I was supposed to use for packing up the house...and took him to their house to bury him. I told Dad he could pick the place.

So now I'm here...with Braeya sitting beside me. I'm not sure she gets it yet. She's not acting any different. They weren't terribly good friends, which used to bug me, but now I'm kind of glad. Maybe it will be easier for her this way.

Though so very anti social, Kaegan was my sensitive cat. He always knew when I had a bad day, and he'd nuzzle up next to me and purr while he rubbed my face with his nose.

Sure could use one of those right now.

Goodbye, my sweet boy. I will miss you terribly. Love you.

It's the Weekly Recap!

* Last Sunday I met with Marie for our Bible study...I always feel so much better after we meet. She's one of my friends who really "gets" me at my core and I can be completely honest and know I'm heard in love. Then later, Faith stopped by and we had a great heart-to-heart chat, complete with tears. I also finished undecorating the house from the baptism party. (The peril/blessing of a house on the market is that it always has to be ready in case someone wants to see it!)

* Monday I had the opportunity to send a "ministry email" to a listener. She wrote in with a question about the show and I answered her, but I also added a note from my heart and some verses I hoped would help her. She responded with sincere gratefulness and tears. That was the moment God confirmed to me that I'm in the right spot - not because I can write or because I can learn the technical aspects - but because I can exercise my heart for ministry in ways I never could before. I loved that.

* Tuesday, one of the office ladies brought us a treat - owl cookies. SO CUTE!!!
Tuesday was also my official photo shoot for the station. Lynne and I went to downtown Fort Wayne to the Grand Wayne Center (never been there before!) to have our pictures taken for the station wall, the web, etc. Loved our photographer. She really took her time with us and fussed over us making sure our collars and hair were as they should be. After work, I met up with the Fort Wayne realtor again and we looked at three more houses. I found one I really liked - but I still don't know when I'll be moving so I don't know if it will still be an option when that time comes. OH! And in totally pathetic and useless random Bekah trivia, my trip to the Grand Wayne Center was also my first time ever to drive in a parking garage.

* Wednesday was my on-air introduction at WBCL. Jamie interviewed me - and we had fun retelling God's story of my transition. We never get tired of that one. If you missed it and want to hear it, you can go here and scroll down to Wednesday, July 20th "Spots and Spotlights." My interview starts somewhere around the 27 minute marker, I think.

* Thursday night, Kari came over. You know you have amazing friends when they'll do things like what you're about to read. Kari came over after we both got home from work and for almost two hours, she helped me cart stuff out of my attic, sort through it, and carry it out to be trashed or out to the garage in preparation for my moving sale. It was 400 million degrees outside, and 500 million degrees in the attic, and obviously hauling superfluous junk is no small task. I can't write enough words to express my appreciation for her help!

* Friday night I got to surprise Julie for her birthday! Despite a little miscommunication on timing, it was great to see her and get to talk to her for a bit on her own personal holiday!
When I got home from the celebration, I went over to Rachel Ashley's to swim for a while. The water was 95 degrees. HEAVEN. It was like the hot tub all over again!

* Saturday I once again embraced my role as Paula Junior and judged for the Campus Challenge competition held at IWU. Lots of great songs...and one did succeed in reducing me to tears. After that was over, I scurried to the other side of town for my next dress fitting for Olivia's wedding. This was the first time I'd seen the dress all in one piece. I love it! She has some tweaking to do but I think it's going to be pretty cute when it's done! I can't wait to show you a picture. This was not the day. It still fits like an apron. :)

Books I'm Reading: I really loved Jesus Calling this week. It fit me so well! Read in Sparkling Gems from the Greek, did a little more reading in Forever in Love with Jesus, and worked in Entrusting Your Dreams to God. It was a hard chapter this week. Very, very challenging.

Favorite God Moment of the Whole Week: God and I have had a number of "discussions" this week. Friday evening, as I waited to go surprise Julie for her birthday, I sprawled out on the floor of my office at the station, reading in Entrusting Your Dreams to God. As the words stepped all over my toes, God opened part of the verses I read to have very personal, redemptive meaning to me. There are days when I still wonder how He plans to redeem my world after its shattering, but He continues to show me, piece by piece, that He does have a plan. And that evening was one of the revelations.

Update on Last Week's Goals: I (thanks to Kari's help) did get the sorting done that I hoped to do. I am now ready for Lori to prep for the sale. And I worked as hard as I could this week to learn everything I could from Jamie in this time we still have together. She had to remind me several times to offer myself some GRACE. (oops.)

Goals for the Coming Week: Very simple. SURVIVE. :) This coming week is Olivia's wedding, so I am beyond busy with that. It's also the week in which I say goodbye to Jamie and begin working all by myself. So my goal is to not have expectations about the week...and just take each day as it comes. I know the Lord is my strength, and I NEED THAT this week.

Bekah's Baptism: The After Party

After the baptism, I invited everyone back to my house for some food. (My house was not made to hold that many people but it was still way fun.) I think there were 25 people at the baptism and maybe about that many (added a few, lost a few) at the party that followed.

So here's a taste of the party!

Earlier this year, I ordered a banner from Shindigz. I got a super deal on it. I paid ONE PENNY for the banner and then had to pay shipping. So I think it was $6.96 for the whole thing. And it was a nice quality vinyl banner! I used the bridge from the song that played at the baptism - Brent Vernon's Fully Yours song. This hung in the dining room by the food.
Angi Spangler's fabulous cupcakes. Do you love the color theme? Browns and blues? (Water and sand...)

Cheeseball and crackers, toffee crackers, candy shop pizza, and cupcakes. And my aunt surprised me with my favorite caramel surrpise brownies. YUMMY. (Stones scattered about for decoration. Love me a theme!!)

BBQ chicken sandwiches, BBQ weenies, and chicken puffs. :) YUM.

Liam was pretty into his cupcake. My favorite one-liner from him was this. "Hey Aunt Bekah! Your living room is different. You reorganized it!"

The lovely Savannah - fresh off a week of camp. Tired, tired, tired, but I was so glad she came!

Julie and Levi. He was kinda serious. :)

Some of the inside crew in my reorganized living room. :)

I have more pictures from this but they all seem to contain the blog anonymous folks, so I won't post them. I think I had about 30 people at my house for the party, which is about 25 more than it comfortably holds! LOL!!

But we had a great time and people started making connections with each other...new friendships were formed...and I loved that.

I couldn't have asked for a more perfect evening. God was very good - and He still is!

And now, as promised, the song that I think best rounds out my post-baptism feelings. The sound quality is a little iffy in this particular rendition of it, but David does a nice little run in this one that he didn't in the studio, so it's my favorite. (Oh come on. Like you thought you were going to get out of this without a David song.)

Bekah's Baptism: Sprinkled and Dunked

Warning - lots of pictures in this post! And I'm not even going to apologize, because I love all of them.

I'm so thankful Brian agreed to do my baptism. He was absolutely wonderful about the entire thing. I know I had some unusual elements to the event, but he let me do what I needed to do to make this special.
He actually opened up the evening by explaining a little bit about what was going to take place.

Then he turned it over to me to explain whatever I wanted to say. It's a good thing I'd mostly written it down in the booklets I gave to everyone there, because I turned into a blubbering mess of tears trying to talk.

Case in point.

Listening to Brent's song...the words to that song are so beautiful. (I tried to find it on YouTube, but the closest I could come was a clip in the sneak peek to the album. It's the third song in the lineup if you want to hear a tiny clip.)

So won't You use my life for greater things than I could ever dream of...Grant a passion, Lord, a never dying flame...and may my days be spent in serving You...in sharing You...giving glory to Your Name!

Brian joined me in the water after I threw the stones and he prayed for me. That water felt amazing.

And here it goes...

Utter relief. There's a new GVB song (I'll post a link tomorrow) called Clean. This picture captures that song the best, I think - There was something bout the water...there was power in the blood...for the first time in my life I felt clean.

Another favorite moment of the night.

My parents went to the Holy Land several years ago and brought back some water from the Jordan River. I asked if I could use some of it in the baptism, and they said yes. So after I was baptized the traditional way, Brian poured the Jordan water over me. That was an amazing feeling.

I kind of didn't want to get out of the water. It felt really good in there!

Moment with Brian after the baptism.

Thank you, Brian!!

It was a perfect night. The weather was gorgeous - slight breeze, but not an annoying wind, warm temperature, warm water, beautiful sun. God certainly blessed me with that and I was grateful.

Bekah's Baptism: The Cloud of Witnesses

I wanted to show you some of the pictures of the people who came to share in the evening with me. I didn't put up all the pictures...some people are blog anonymous. But I thought you might enjoy the sampling.

Mike and Lara were the first to arrive. They were the ones who gave me those beautiful replacement stones I told you about yesterday. Lara is my mentor, and Mike helped video the baptism. They are one of the most beautiful examples of a couple in love I've EVER seen. Love them.
You know Greg and Angi. :) They've been in my life for a long time and have taken good care of me. Angi made cupcakes for my after-party. (Yes, there was a party.) They were SO GOOD. She had something like 280 cupcakes to make last week, and yet she took time to come to the baptism. Meant the world to me!

Julie Crandall and her kiddos drove an hour or so just to be with me. Julie, as you might remember, has been a friend of mine for several years now (back to the college days) and she was also a faithful encouragement to me in the desert. I was excited that after all that, she got to be here to see something good in my life! (And her son wasn't drugged. I wanted to make a note of that to explain his expression. HA!)

Ronda!!! Even though she had company, she took time to come on over and be part of the night. Thanks for coming, Ronda! Love you! (Please make a note that I was trying to relive my Florida vacation - also with Ronda - by sporting the beach coverup!)

My parents were in attendance. I've been keeping them pretty busy lately with all the end of work parties...baptism parties...I'm trying not to let them rest. :)

After spending a whole work week with me, the lovely Jamie Bennett also came down and not only attended, but HELPED. She helped get the food together before the party, she helped video the baptism, she took pictures for me. Love her!!

My adopted family....Sandee and Kari. Sandee is like my second mom, and Kari is like another sister. So glad they could come - and so glad they wanted to come!

Rachel, one of my former co-workers, brought her baby and came out to be part of the night. Rachel and I used have some good hear-to-hearts at work. I miss her!

And of course, Rachel Ashley. She took all the pictures of the baptism itself - and you'll get to see those tomorrow. THANK YOU RACHEL for all your hard work after a very busy week of hard work!

And now for some candid shots....

Talking with Brian Holland, who baptized me, about the presence of fish in the pond. It was a source of concern for this chicken. Just hanging out before everything began. This would be about the time I started to get unbelievably nervous and emotional.

I played a song by my friend Brent Vernon...a great song called Fully Yours. I wasn't sure how easy it would be for everyone to hear the words (turned out great) so I put the words in the little booklets I gave out - and they followed along during the song.
Mike and Jamie recording....
Lara and me after the baptism.

One of my favorite pictures - a very special moment with my dad.

And a moment with Sandee. I realize this is not all that flattering of me, but it's how I looked for most of the night. :)

Come back tomorrow to see the baptism itself. :)