Contemplations over Coffee.: God's Grace. (Change in baby dedication date.)

CHANGE IN DATE FOR NORAH'S DEDICATION: So, we set the date for Norah Grace's "baby dedication". October 18th, 9:00am at the Downtown Vineyard in Grand Junction. Our friends Nate Ralston and Paul Watson are going to be doing the service. It will be at the beginning of their normal service.

This brought me to really start thinking about what it means to "dedicate" her. Are we doing it just because it is an excuse to bring everyone together, because i get to buy Norah something cute to wear, because I want to get out and dress up, because it's the thing to do in "non denominational christian" circles, are we doing it because we think it will provide her with salvation....No..... so why are we doing it?

I know we don't believe in baptizing her at this age, we want loving the Lord and believing in Jesus to be her choice. We want her to choose Him and fully believe that she will. I think the dedication is just the beginning of the process.

I didn't know this, but after some research, I see that many times in the bible, babies were "dedicated" to God. The Israelites brought their 8 day old children to the priest for blessings. Hannah brought her son Samuel to the priest Eli to dedicate him to God in 1 Samuel 1. And Mary and Joseph even brought Jesus to the temple to be "dedicated".

Honestly dedicating Norah, is much more about Ryan and I than it is about her. As believers we know that our children are the Lord's and He loves them even more than we do. We believe God gave her to us because He knows we will raise her to know and love Him. He trusts us with her physical and spiritual well being.

We are so thankful for the gift of Norah and fully accept the challenge and responsibility for raising her. One of our ways of thanking God for our precious little Norah is "dedicating" her to Him, letting God know that we follow his direction, guidance, and word. We will try our best to please Him in the way we raise Norah. We know that raising her isn't going to be easy, and we know we need His help. I am already incredibly aware of how easy it is for me to fall into worry and stress, I need peace and comfort that only God can provide in this scary world. We are thanking Him for his provision, and for his protection over our family. We also know that this isn't about us, God doesn't require us to dedicate Norah to Him or He won't protect her. It isn't about anything we can do, it's about what He has already done on the cross. We are simply honoring Him by thanking Him for His grace - and for Norah Grace.

A few verses....

"Hear O Israel: The Lord our God is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on their 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." Deuteronomy 6:4-7

"Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." Ephesians 6:4

"Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him." Psalm 127:3

"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" Josiah 24:15

God, we invite you into our family. We thank you for Norah and we thank you for choosing us. We thank you for your Grace. We don't understand how big and how amazing and how complicated you are, but we will continue to love you and teach Norah what we do know. Thanks for continuing to work on our hearts, to mold us into the people you desire us to be. We are so excited to raise this little girl and we thank you for your guidance, your help, your protection, your peace. We give her back to you and know that you are going to bless our family. We love you. Amen.

and now because i get in trouble if i write without posting pics...and i love showing pics of her:)