Mary's Dedication

What a busy week we are having! All within one week we have... Bill arriving home after being gone for a month; my mother-in-law's birthday; all of the grandparents in town for our daughter's dedication on Mother's Day; my 32nd (today!) birthday; Ivan's last T-ball game; Ivan's preschool graduation; and a little friend's birthday party. Wow. Amazing what one can fit into a time span of 7 days!

Here are some photos of Mary, in her dedication gown (hand-smocked by her Nana Carole). I don't have any photos from that actual day (yet!) since I was relying on my dad and father-in-law to take all of the pictures the entire weekend, so, I threw in a couple of the professional ones we had taken.

Her dedication was actually a little emotional for me. One of those "mom moments" I will not forget. The pastor began talking about how our children are gifts to us from the Lord. Then, he spoke on how it is our responsibility to, in turn, give them back to the Lord. Not literally, but figuratively... saying that we are making the commitment to raise our children in Him. ... to know Him. And that we trust our kids' very lives with Him. That is my biggest desire as a Mom, and it hit me hard as I sat in the pew listening to the pastor speak before we actually took Mary up front. I always pray for my kids, and my strongest desires are that they know and love the Lord with their whole hearts, and that they love people too. I want my kids to obviously do well in life, be healthy, etc... but I also want them to want what the Lord wants for their lives first and foremost. Bill and I are committed to raising our kids to know Jesus anyway, but it really has been a good thing for me, personally, to make a public commitment for each of them.