Emmett's dedication

We are having a "parent-child dedication" ceremony for Emmett in church this coming Sunday.  For those who don't know, we belong to a Mennonite church, and as part of the Anabaptist faith, we don't believe in infant baptism.  We believe in adult baptism, or "believer's baptism" - a person chooses to be baptised upon confession of their faith.  So instead of a baptism or christening, we have a ceremony for babies (or even older children) that we call "parent-child dedication."  It acknowledges that our children are gifts from God, and we as parents dedicate ourselves to raising our children with the knowledge of God, so that they can make the decision to believe (and be baptised) when they are old enough.  Here's what it says on Annika's dedication certificate:

On this 15th day of June in the year of our Lord 2008

Carey and Pamela

make a commitment to the Lord and their daughter

Annika Beth

that they will raise her in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus so

that she may choose to follow Him.

Witnessed by the congregation of the _ _ church

It's not a big ceremony or anything, but it is very touching (at least for an emotional mama like myself).  I think my favorite moment during Annika's dedication was when the pastor asked the congregation if they would support and encourage us in raising Annika, and they all stood up to show their support.  Seriously, I almost cried at the time, and my eyes are tearing up now just thinking about it.  It's just so awesome to know that we have the love and support of so many people - truly a church family. 

Emmett never had a baby shower (like most second babies, I'm sure), so I was thinking that perhaps if anyone wanted to write a message of encouragement for him, or give him a Bible verse, they could leave it as a comment on this post (or email me if you don't want it to be public), and I would print out all those messages and put them in his baby book on the page that's designated for the baby shower.  That way I don't have a blank page in his book, and he'll have something special to look back on when he gets older.

I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him.

So now I give him to the Lord.

1 Samuel 1:27-28a