Grace Art

Something about stepping into the baptistery overwhelmed the new believer. For reasons that were and still are her own, she just couldn’t do it. It can be like that, especially when you are about to take one of life’s biggest steps.

Kathy Anderson had volunteered to help in the dressing room. Standing at the bottom of the steps watching her encourage this frightened soul was like watching grace art in motion.

She was so kind, encouraging and respectful as tears flowed down the candidate’s cheeks, flushed red with embarrassment. Later, when she apologized for "failing," Kathy told her that Jesus still loved her and accepted her, baptized or not. "That’s what you get for having a good Lutheran in your Baptist church," Kathy told me. I told her she was a great Baptist, as far as I was concerned.

Following Jesus is not easy. For some, it gets tough from the moment their big toe first touches the water. Even if we make it into the baptismal waters, we wouldn’t make it far out the other side if it weren’t for those who reassured us that Jesus still loves us, even when we stumble.

Curtis, Kathy’s husband, often tells her that she is "the grace of God on earth." After watching her grace art at work at the top of the baptistery steps, I couldn’t agree more.