Elijah's Baby Dedication

On Sunday, October 6, 2013, Elijah had his baby dedication at Spring Baptist Church! Chip and I had agreed when I was pregnant with Elijah that we would both have him Christened (my tradition) and have him Dedicated (his tradition).Since joining Spring Baptist Church and becoming baptized in that church myself in February, it became even more important that we take this step with Elijah. We were supposed to participate in the ceremony last November but I was out of town and the next opportunity was St. Patrick's Day but we were on our fabulous trip to Chicago. I was very excited to hear this October date announced a few weeks ago and we decided it was time to get this "baby" dedicated!!!

Our church provides a sweet little reception prior to the service with all the babies being dedicated. Each table had its own refreshments, a mini cake, a framed verse that was chosen by the parents for their particular child, a photo of the child and a bag of some other thoughtful take away items.

Parents are asked to choose "Encouragers" for their child, people who would agree to not only pray for their child but provide encouragement to them throughout their lives.  Chip and I have had several people play an active role in praying for our family throughout the past couple of years and we asked some of these dear friends and family members if they would do the honor of acting as Elijah's encouragers.

Janet and Latheal Parish, Elijah's paternal grandparents,  who were an active part of bringing our family into Spring Baptist Church and and I know Elijah is always a part of their prayers
Heather Fricke who is Elijah's Godmother and my best friend,  always happy to participate in the important events of his life
Elizabeth Sutherland, my lifelong friend and though she is also my long distance friend (in Chicago) I know that she is a woman of strong spiritual belief and that she can be relied upon to take this charge of prayer and encouragement very seriously
Katie McCorkle who has been a friend to Chip for many years and me as long as I have known him. She has taken such a vested interest in our family, especially these precious past months and has been an extremely active part of our prayer team.
Trish and Rick Warner, lifelong friends of Janet and Latheal, who I know have prayed for our family even before we became a "family" and prayed specifically for Elijah's conception and gestational health not stopping since.

We were thrilled to have all encouragers present in body except Elizabeth Sutherland who was present in heart.  It made the evening so special to see Elijah enjoy all the love and attention from those that love him so much.

At the end of the reception, the parents were asked to read out loud the scripture passage they chose for their child and the blessing they had written. I had been searching for a scripture passage for Elijah before I found out about it for the Dedication. One of the pregnancy books I am reading is Praying Through Your Pregnancy in which a couple of months ago I was asked to choose scriptures and write blessings for my unborn babies. I became inspired to do this for Elijah as well so that all three of my children had this. So I had several scriptures bookmarked and ideas on what I would like included in the blessing based on my daily prayers for Elijah. Chip and I poured over these ideas together and chose a verse and using many of my prayers for Elijah, Chip wrote a beautiful blessing.

For Elijah's verse we chose the following:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight" Proverbs 3:5-6

Our blessing for Elijah which we will continue to pray over him:

"Dear Lord,

First, thank you for the wonderful gift of Elijah. He is developing rapidly and his little personality is already starting to show through. He is so kind and gentle and you can see empathy in his little face.

I pray that you would claim his salvation at an early age and that he maintains a close relationship with Jesus our savior throughout his life. Please fill him with the fruits of the spirit but especially kindness, gentleness, and above all love.

We pray, father, for his health. May he grow up free of any major health problems and live a strong healthy life.

May he be humble yet confident, hardworking yet know when to appreciate his gifts. We see the determination in his face as he learns and grasps new mental and physical concepts, let this same determination spill into to his spiritual life and keep him determined to not only be a servant of Christ but to share his faith with those who may need it.

And finally we would like to lift up his future mate. I know it’s quite early for that, but we want to lift them up now and begin to pray that whoever it may be to have a heart for you and be kind and loving  and respect our son as we teach him the same value of respect.

We love you Lord and thank you for this day to share our son’s dedication to you with our friends and family. Please bless and protect them and all of the children here tonight.

We ask all these things in Jesus name; Amen."

After the reception, we all headed to the sanctuary where the parents and children were presented and took their vows. Pastor Mark Estep (AWESOME) charged the parents as a group to guide their children and raise them in the light of the Lord.  The congregation and encouragers were charged with similar vows.  It was quite a beautiful and meaningful evening and I love that we shared this together as a family.

Elijah, we are so very proud of you.  You are such a light in our home and in our family. You have brought love, hope and joy to so many and you are only 17 months! I have no doubt you will do great things and I pray that your faith guides you to greatness.  We love you!

Cute little boy all set for Dedication Sunday!

My, how much he is growing!

I love the joy in his little face

"Here I come, Mama"

Such a sweet hat. A little small. Believe it or not, the hat is 18 months! 

Peekaboo!

Looking so much like his Daddy

Happy family of five!

Something so special about this little one

Looking quite dapper in his Sunday best!

<3

Say Cheese!

Something so sweet about this picture

Such a good looking little guy!

Love for Granddad

Kisses from Granddad!

                                                

Sweet little boy kisses

Buddies

Spotted Grandmother

His little expressiveness just makes me laugh

The two redheads

Grandmother kisses!

More kisses

The awesome collection of refreshments on our table!

Our page in the program

Gluten Free cupcakes Grandmother made so Mama and Elijah could enjoy some sweet treats!

The tables looked so pretty and I loved the gift bag containing an awesome letter to Elijah about his dedication from Pastor Mark, a special toy and the new testament. 

Each table had the child's personal scripture verse framed. LOVED THIS! It is in his room now. 

Elijah had fun exploring with Daddy

We were so happy Katie could participate in this day!

Elijah looking super cool in Auntie Heather's sunglasses

Giving Mr. Rick a high five!

Kisses for Miss Trish

Snuggles from Auntie Heather

Listening intently to Pastor Mark

Elijah as always wanted to share his toys

When the first little girl didn't want it, he found someone else to share with. 

His little friend was happy to share back with him!

My baby boy getting chased by the girls. :) 

Such a sweet moment

Enjoying his new friend

Moments before the ceremony began

Quick pic of our family

Encouragers taking their positions

So proud of my boy

Walking down to present Elijah

With Pastor Mark

Happy family moment

Love these hugs.