I wore a bathing suit, T-shirt, and shorts underneath the large white tunic that went from my neck down to my ankles. The baptismal was full and the water was warm. My friend Angie was with me, two teenage girls making a public display of our faith in our tiny suburban church. I walked down to join my pastor, who had helped me get to this moment by teaching me the Bible, and being a trusted friend. I put my hand over my nose and pinched. He put his hand over mine and said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the…” Into the water I went, and his words became muffled. I came up with, “…and the Holy Spirit.”

Could have been any water. Could have been a sprinkle or a dibble. But it started with God, was possible because of Jesus, and would be completed by the Holy Spirit. I came up from that water celebrating how God makes me clean, spiritually, forever.