20 years!

20 years ago today, on November 26, 1985, I was baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist Church by my uncle, Albert Dittes. It has been a privilege to be part of the great Second Advent Movement prophesied in Revelation 10, in which Jesus, The Mighty Angel, comes down in a pillar of cloud to start a new movement and leads us to the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary just as He led the children of Israel through the wilderness in a pillar of cloud to the earthly sanctuary.

Some of the highlights of being an Adventist over the past 20 years, in addition to my baptism, include going forward on an altar call by Mark Finley when I was 15 years old, after which my nasty Irish temper has never again been a problem by God's grace. Also, going through Europe with the Damsteegts on the GreatControversy tour and seeing all the Reformation sites. Moving to Loma Linda and coming into a deeper experience in the Third Angel's Message. Thanks to Trudie Loo and her Chinese church group for providing a place where present truth was uplifted. My life really changed after hearing Peter Gregory at the Chinese church campmeeting in the spring of my first year of med school.

More highlights include deeper Bible study with Peter Gregory and learning how to read and unlock the mysteries of the Bible for myself, like Hebrews, Romans, Daniel, and Revelation. Also, the three Restoration series in Loma Linda have been memorable. Being part of Advent HOPE and learning how to give lesson studies and sermons has provided a great opportunity for spiritual growth.

On a more personal level, in a spite of the notoriety that I get from www.timarakawa.com, Tim has truly been a great friend on a very deep spiritual level, and I'm thankful we've been able to encourage each other over the past 8 years. And last, but not least, I'm thankful for Joelle and her spiritual maturity and the uplifting influence she's had in my life.

Finally, today was a special Sabbath. I got to see Joelle teach kindergarten. Church was nice. Pr. Kirkpatrick used to go to the church we went to. Had a wonderful lunch. It was like a second Thanksgiving dinner. For dessert, we had blueberry pie because Joelle knows it's my favorite. I thought that it was neat that the pie my mom would always make for my birthday, I was able to have for my 20th birthday of my baptism. Intererstingly, Joelle's mom decided to give dessert to me and Joelle on "special" paper plates that had hearts on them. No one else noticed other than the three of us. It was funny. And the pie was really, really good.

By the way, today happens to be Ellen White's 175th birthday. I know I mentioned it yesterday, but today is the day, so I'm proud to share a significant date in her history with her.

Hope all of you had a happy Sabbath.

I probably will have to publish pictures a little later. Techical difficulties for now. Sorry, but it will be worth the wait. :-)