it was beautiful

today i cried. behind the camera. then during worship. then behind the camera again.

and i have tears in my eyes as i write this.

why? because God is good. because lives change when they come to know Christ. because a child's innocence and faith is something we could all use. because my camera captured each of the above.

my church, lifechruch.tv, held it's baptisms today, and i was able to shoot at 3 of the services. i've shot pics of baptisms once before, but this time it really affected me. seeing the joy in people as they celebrate leaving their old life behind, and publicly accept that they are a child of God. it's beautiful :c)

there were tears shed

expressions of joy
comfort

and relief

there was young

and the 'not as young'

there were embraces

and celebrationsthere was unity

and teamwork

there was joy and pride

and there was helping and loving

and healing

you probably won't get the same emotion as i do, but let me at least explain the last set of pics. this man was handicapped, walking only with a walker. he desired to be baptised, but was unable to climb the ladder to enter and exit the pool. he worried the day before about how he would pull this off. but it was beautiful. with the assistance of his brothers in Christ, he was able to publicly display his commitment as everyone else did. the crowd cheered as a group of 5-6 men lifted the 'new' man out of the pool. i wish i could know more of his testimony, but he was an inspiration to those of us who witnessed today. so thank you for your strength.