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Mama bear, that was cheating! It was supposed to be a 1vs1 one fight! Oh well.
I got baptized today! Outside in -10c. In a frozen lake! That's why I had to skip this weekend's livestream, too nervous to stream.
And it was quite the experience, especially since I've never even tried ice swimming before. The pastors tried to arrange the baptism "as soon as possible" (aka this Sunday) so that temps would hopefully still be above freezing. But no no, God had other plans. and winter came with a vengeance this weekend, -10c temps and snow and all the lakes froze over! But: there was a spot being kept unfrozen for ice-swimmers by some sort of surface-ripple-mechanism.
It's certainly an event I won't ever forget (I'm sure I wouldn't forget a more "typical" baptism either, but you know what I mean.) Walking out waist-deep into the icy water with the pastor was painful enough, but then getting dunked underwater felt like an actual full-body shock. And then back up into -10c air with soaked clothes and into an unheated changing stall where my wet clothes literally froze to the floor after changing, hahah! It was great though. After all, baptism is supposed to symbolize being joined to Christ in his death (and resurrection), so it being a bit painful isn't exactly unfitting. (And small part of me thinks God was indulging my affinity for Nordic traditions with a wink, like "here, I'll give you a very traditional Nordic baptism, enjoy".) And my parents came over to be there too, so it was just all great.
So that's my life update for the end of this year: got baptized and have now officially become a member of a Christian congregation, "only" a year after my conversion, heh. And yes, I know the year isn't quite over yet but it feels like it, okay! And it's been the longest year I've ever experienced, with so much stuff. It's like last year was a whole different life... it's been stressful, but God has been very kind to me. Now what remains is to give SSSS a nice ending (looks like around January/February) and I'll be walking off on my new path with vigor.
Anyway, tomorrow more mama bear!