Last Sunday was another piece of the newfound momentum, it was the baptism of Travis Bottcher. I'll post Travis' testimony from Sunday below:
Some of you may be wondering who I am because I am not here very often on Sunday’s due to my job. So I wanted to talk briefly about how I have come from not really caring or thinking about GOD to being dunked in this kiddy pool, which is a nice touch I must say Donnie.
When I was younger my family and I attended a small country church in Sedalia and I was baptized when I was 12. I am very glad I was baptized there but it has a totally different meaning to me now. We continued going there for a while but we eventually stopped and I really never got involved with another church.
In November of 2004, Amy and Billy started coming to Trinity Family as the church started up. I pretty much avoided the place at all costs for the longest time. As I look back, I think it was mainly because I felt like I didn’t need church or GOD in my life. I didn’t want to go to a place where it was being pounded down my throat all the time or here that what I was doing was wrong. I believed in GOD and that was good enough.
One Sunday, I finally came and met Donnie and other people from Trinity Family and the next thing I know I am having weekly bible studies with Donnie. A while later I am having bible study groups at my house.
Even when I was going thru my divorce and couldn’t make sense of anything, GOD and Trinity Family was still with me. Then when I found out I was expecting another baby, I was so happy but I knew it wasn’t the perfect circumstances to bring a child in to this world with two parents who were no longer together. I fought for several months in my head and did not really talk to GOD because I guess I was ashamed or something a long those lines. It was not like I blamed him but I could not understand because I felt like I had already been thru so much. Then in August I am not sure exactly what happened but I was talking to a dear friend and it was like something came over me. I felt like GOD was talking to me and said it’s alright. I won’t give you more than you can handle. Now I have said it before but I am not a real bible pounding kind of person but this was a moment I felt through my whole body and it is hard to explain unless you have had this moment.
I sent a text to Donnie right away and said I want to be baptized now. Keep in mind Donnie and I have been talking about me getting baptized for well over a year and I kept telling him, I’m not ready and I’ll know when its time. It would have been great to see his face when he got that text but I think he replied with a “Wow” and let’s do it. Now our schedules haven’t worked the best so it has been a couple of months but over that time I have some special friends in my life who are helping me find my “true self”. Not only has my relationship with GOD gotten stronger but my relationship with my friends and family also. Not everyone gets to see these changes and some people may not even notice them and that is some of the things I am still working on, but I know there are certain people who can see and feel those changes. I hope and pray that these changes can be passed on to my two beautiful children, Billy and Gabrielle, who was born on November 2nd. That has become one of my goals and dreams.
Now our schedules have finally worked out and I am here to take this step!!!
Travis' spiritual journey over the past year parallels what has happened in TFC. After some initial excitement and momentum, Travis hit a wall. But he's pushed through that difficult spot and found the deeper joy and contenment that comes from a spiritual maturity, a spiritual maturity known only to those who have persevered through difficult times.
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