I just received a video from a good friend of mine "back home"....it was the taping of her eldest grandson being baptized by his dad, her son.  Wow, I can't even imagine what that must have felt like as the grandma!  My friend, Carol, and I have many experiences of growing up in Lynchburg, Virginia.  We attended the same church for years and years as our parents were involved in ministry.  In fact, our families are listed as charter members.

Carol's dad, K.B. Newton, was our choir/music director.  He was, in my mind, the best choir director I've ever had the privilege of singing for in that little church, Hyland Heights Baptist.  Today the church is growing and is a beacon on that same hillside where a handful of people felt God's calling to start a new church. 

Our lives, Carol and mine, are products of that calling.  We've been raised by pillars of the church, not perfect, mind you, but parents that did the best they could to pass on their beliefs and teachings as they had received concerning the things of God.  Carol and I, in turn, have done the same.  Her only child is a wonderful man that is in ministry full time as a pastor in the Atlanta area.  As he and his wife have passed on their beliefs and their eldest son has accepted Christ and was baptized.  The circle of life continues, but more importantly, our Christian life....who we are....what we believe....the power of a mighty, awesome God is being passed to future generations.  I look forward, if God so wills, to be in the audience to see my future grandchildren walk through the waters of baptism.  Awesome, Carol!

"These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your house and on your gates."  Deuteronomy 6: 6-9