Our Daughter's Baby Dedication

We dedicated our daughter in January. I know it's been a while, and I'm just now posting about it. :) It was such a sweet experience for us as parents. We had the privilege of having our pastor from Florida dedicate her. He & his little boy sang a tender song at the dedication. There were prayers from both men- Pastor D. & my hubby (the Pastor of the church we attend).

I will never forget standing there, praying with Pastor D. & my hubby- all the while our little darling reaching over and trying to get the microphone from the men!! :) Such a techno baby already. I will also remember how beautiful she looked in her sweet, tiny white eyelet dress & white patent leather shoes; and her & my matching name bracelets. (I know. It's so not about that!! It's just a girl thing. Sorry. It's my memory I'm recording here after all. Ha!)

Going into a Baby Dedication, we know that we are saying to our God & our church family, that we promise to raise her up to be a godly young woman. That we will bring her up "in the nurture & admonition of the Lord". ( Ephesians 6:4)

Honestly, that is a sobering thought for a parent. How do we do that? Especially in the culture & society that we live in:

-Where every woman (little girl's role models) on TV, magazines, store ads, etc... are airbrushed into unrealistic "perfection" and flaunt their bodies in ways that are frankly embarrassing.

-Where being underweight is looked on as a good thing.

-Where being beautiful externally is more important than having beauty & joy in her heart & soul.

-Where boys & peers opinions of her will sometimes matter more than her own & God's opinion.

All these struggles. The list could go on and on and on!!

And yet, there's the here & now-- dealing with learning to deal with & control emotions & self, to obey, to develop her speech & physical skills... I guess we shouldn't get the cart before the horse. But those things above weigh heavily on my mind whenever I sit and think about raising my children.

I believe that as parents that desire to bring our children up in this way,

-we must pray for our children;

-we must maintain a strong & healthy marriage, so they can see what it is that they should look for in a mate when that day comes;

-we must instill character (meaning working on it, not just hoping it will be there);

-we must teach them the Bible & what God says, and how all that applies to their lives- make it real to them.

That's all the advice I know to write here. I am no expert. I only go to church, listen to Christian radio some, attend MOPS, ask my mother questions- - and pray that God will show me from the sources he puts in my path, how to go about this daunting task of dedicating our children to Him.

I fear I am rambling. But these are things that matter most to me. I believe that outside of being a wife (1st priority), raising my children is my JOB!! And I pray that I am a dedicated mother to these little blessings that God has given us.