Gray's dedication

Gray was dedicated at our church the Sunday after Thanksgiving, November 25. There are several purposes for baby dedications at our church. 1) for the pastor to give a charge to the parents about how to raise their child in a way that reflects Christ 2) for parents to come in front of the church to publicly proclaim their promise to God about how they will raise their child 3) for the pastor and the church family to pray over the children and the families 4) for the Pastor to ask the church body to pray for and support the families and 5) ultimately to dedicate the babies to the Lord. We believe that Gray is God's child but He is graciously allowing us to be his earthly parents and for that we are immensely grateful.

It was so special to us that Pastor Will did the dedication. He is not only one of the most influential pastors in my life but he is also one of the pastors that married us.

 

So do y'all remember me saying in my Thanksgiving post that the more people that were around, the more energy Gray had? Welp, the same went for dedication day. We were on stage in front of the congregation (a much smaller number of people in the contemporary service that we go to) and Gray hammed it up, to say the least. He squealed and talked the entire time. Pastor Will first went down the line of families to introduce them and then he came back up the line at the end to pray for each family. Both times he stood with us, Gray got even louder. Thank goodness for Will's microphone. He was definitely the most vocal baby up there and of course everyone was cracking up at him the whole time. In Pastor Will's prayer over Gray and our family, he thanked God for Gray's voice and all of his energy. I thought that was priceless! I have a feeling our boy is going to be wide open with a huge personality.

Here is our family after the dedication (minus my mom who had to scoot out early to work in the infant preschool room and my sister in law and two nephews, who were sick with the flu)...

The Sowers were there too, which meant a lot to us

It was a special day for us and one that we do not take lightly. We pray every day for Gray and that he will continue to grow and be healthy. We also pray that we will be godly parents and an example of Christ for Gray through our marriage and parenting. But our biggest prayer is that he will come to know Jesus at an early age and be a strong Christian boy and man. Few other things in life will make our hearts as full as that would.