underwater again?

About a year ago I started going to a new church, The Orchard 

I wasn't a fan of church "shopping" on my own but knew that it was time to move on from where I was going. The first thing that drew me in was the fact that there was a Saturday night service..I loved that I could go and then be able to sleep in on Sundays or do other activities. I went pretty steady for about 3 months and then I started getting out of the habit...other things got in the way...and while I could sit here and say that it was "life" that got in the way, I now know that it was more fear than anything. Fear of the things that I were doing in my life weren't really honoring to God and deep down I knew it. So I ran...
The moment I needed to stick my heels in and face church...face my faith....face my failures...I ran....
The thing that I love about the Orchard is that it is very "real" there...everything from the worship to the sermons...no one is put on a pedestal except for God...they feel strongly about bringing broken people into the church. People that need or want a second chance...whatever you have been through it doesn't matter...bring it.

So much different than what I found when I returned to my former church before moving to Arizona. It was "his" church originally and even though many said that I was welcome by myself it still felt like everyone was judging or questioning. I needed to go someplace where no one knew my story nor did they care...unless I wanted to share it. I found that at The Orchard...

Sometime this spring I decided that I needed to get back to church...I started attending more regulalry and started feeling something good happening. I knew that there was a change coming inside of me...I didn't know how or when it would happen but I just decided to wait it out. There were still times that I was making poor choices but I still kept going to church and facing those choices head on. With worship and intense messages.

The time came for the yearly BBQ & Baptism at the church and I was really excited about it. I volunteered to help out at the BBQ and was really looking forward to seeing the baptisms. I went to church on Sunday morning with good friends and the service rocked my world. The music was intense and during the sermon they had a few people that were getting baptized later in the day telling their stories. Where they had come from, why they had made this choice...the stories we awesome. One in particular hit home about choices and forgiveness. Two things that I had struggled with especially in the last year. After the sermon they had another song and prayer...I cried through the entire thing. I had never ever felt more convicted to make some serious changes. I felt the holy spirit right there....I decided right then that I wanted to have a fresh start...so I sought out one of the pastors after the service and asked if I could be baptized later in the day. He said yes and then I was on a whirlwhind the rest of the day to get ready and fulfill my volunteering duties.
Getting in the water and watching the people getting "dunked" before me was amazing...I felt relieved and knew that this was the right choice. When I came out of the water I felt like I was on a high...God's natural high! I made some very hard decisions to stop things I was doing and take a break from some things...a week later and I am still feeling blessed and trying to open my eyes to learning all that I can on this new journey that God has me on.