funeral #3 & 1 baptism

This morning was cold. I got up and spent some time playing with the boys. Around 10:30 I left for a funeral. This was the funeral for another students' grandpa. But there were quite a few differences in this one from the one yesterday or even the first one of the year.

First, I don't know anyone in the family except the grandson. He came to our Christmas Party and I've seen him at various school events.

Second, the grandpa was not a follower of Jesus. So the mood was a lot different. It was not much of a celebration, like yesterday's funeral was.

Third, it was a graveside only service. So it was cold.

Fourth, it was a military funeral. A majority of the service was based around his time in the Navy.

Fifth, the "message" from the chaplin was very brief and rather vague. He talked about what Jesus did for us on the cross, but not more than maybe twice.

Sixth, because of #2 it was one of those services where the chaplin tried to reassure the family that he was in a better place now.

Seventh, I didn't drive, but got a ride from one of the teen's. So I ended up riding with 1 teen from our church, 1 had at met once at school and another that I met for the first time today.

I am really glad I went and I pray for the family. Sometimes it seems the best ministry we can do is to be there in times of sorrow and struggle.

on to the other big thing...
A few hours ago I was able to be a part (through witnessing) of a baptism. One of the juniors was baptized today by his dad. How cool it was to watch. His dad was baptized a few months ago and its always special to watch a parent baptize their child. It was a smaller setting, probably about 20 or so people. Unfortunately for the two in the baptismal, it was not heated. :)

What a day it has been.

As I am finishing up I realized that I spent a lot more time typing about the funeral. And I started wondering why that was. A quick answer would be that I believe, although, baptism is important the bigger thing is what follows. The discipeship and teaching that needs to happen. Otherwise, I think we can treat a baptism like a funeral. We think about it a lot, but after a short period we get back to "life," usually with little noticable change.