Dedication Weekend

A few weekends ago we had Sadie and Blake's Dedication at church. (Due to our multiple moves since Sadie was born, we still hadn't had her dedicated). Baby/Child Dedication is not baptism and does not mean our children are saved. They are not christians until they make a personal decision on their own to follow Christ in their lives. They will be baptized (hopefully) whenever they decide to do so. But in the meantime, it is our responsibility as their parents to raise them in a Christ-centered home and teach them about Christ's sacrifice on their behalf and His grace that He extends to each of us.
It was an exciting weekend and both of our families were able to come up (minus a few siblings).

Each church does the dedication a bit differently, but due to the size of our church, they put a picture of each child being dedicated up on a large screen in front for everyone to see. We also chose a life-verse for each of our kids.

Blake's verse is

Micah 6:8

"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God"

Sadie's life verse is II Timothy 3:14-15

"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."

Each family then got up front as our pastor described what was taking place

Notice Sadie's folded hands while we were praying

After the dedication, we all came back to our house for some food and games. (We ended up doing the dedication at the Saturday evening service).

We introduced the Sorensens and re-acquainted the Bohlmans with the "Left-Right-Center" game...a personal favorite of ours despite neither Matt nor I ever winning! And Wyatt personally requested that we play since we usually play after the kids are in bed. And boy, did the kids LOVE being a part of the action and excitement.

Blake definitely has reached the 'quick-grab' stage, reaching for things faster than we can get them out of the way.

I love how Sadie put her hand in Uncle Kyle's shirt to get his attention

Pops having a heart-to-heart with the kids before they went to bed

Pops and Wyatt have gotten to spend a good amount of time together this summer golfing and working on 'projects', which has been so great for Wyatt. He is definitely one of those kids that needs quality time with people before he feels comfortable around them, even if they are relatives. And he is a bit resistant to doing things with other people at first, but my Dad has persevered despite Wyatt's initial apprehension. But the payoff is well worth it.