Dedication...

Yesterday we dedicated our kids to the Lord at our church. It was so great to stand in front of everyone, let them know that we intend to raise our kids to know Christ, and ask for help in the process from our church family. We have some AWESOME people that we know will be huge helps in this journey. We also chose verses for each of the kids that we will pray for them throughout their lives.

For Hailey, we chose Deuteronomy 6:5, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, strength." We've prayed that for her since she was little and when she was old enough, she began praying it for herself before bed. We pray that she will be a woman following hard after Jesus one day...

For Owen, we chose Numbers 6:24-26, "The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." We chose this because we want our son to reflect God's glory in his life.

It's also become very real to us lately that we are raising kids that will one day become spouses and parents! Maybe it's the many weddings we've been to recently, but I want to commit to praying for them, as well as their future spouses. We also want to be a good representation of a marriage before our kids, and that's not an easy task sometimes. So pray for us, if you think of it, that Todd and I would think before we speak and communicate rightly.

After the service, our pastor gave us this book to read...I started it last night and am so intrigued about "The Blessing" that God intended we give our kids. I'll let you know how it goes, but I'm just really figuring out that these kids don't belong to us, they belong to God and that the responsibility of parenting is big...