baby dedication

behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. Ps. 127:3-5.

we had sophie dedicated yesterday at church. along with sophie were three other babies including her cousin, hadleigh. a baby dedication is a parents' way of giving their child, a gift from God, back to Him. A baby dedication does not save the child or secure their citizenship in heaven. That comes later when, and if the child chooses to have a personal relationship with Christ by coming to know Him as their Savior. It is simply an acknowledgement on matt and my part of saying God, sophie is yours and we commit to raise her in Your truth.

at the service, we were challenged in two ways. my dad spoke on behalf of the parents and our responsibility. it is the father's responsibility to exhort, encourage, and challenge his children, and the mother's responsibility to love her children fully and unconditionally. the point of this is so that they may walk worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. (1 Thes. 2:7, 11-12)

our pastor spoke about the hands holding the child. he used the analogy of a baseball. a baseball in the hands of a-rod is worth 2+ million dollars, but a baseball in our hand is worth maybe the $6 it cost to buy it. a child is held in the hands of God and as parents we are to raise these little ones to love our God, serve our God, and hopefully by the grace of God, one day accept Him as their own. he gave each baby a baseball and a letter to be opened on their 18th birthday. he did tell us that in it he put two things about sophie when she was a baby - her wild hair-do and that she cried a lot!