Dedication

This past Sunday marked a special day in Gideon's life, and the lives of Noah and I. We had him dedicated to the Lord at our church. A dedication is not a baptism, as several folks have asked. It's merely a declaration in front of God, our family and our church family that we are going to raise our child in a Christian home. To me, it was basically a public "thank you" to God for giving me this precious gift. And a reminder that we are in charge of his upbringing, both physical and spiritual. Wow. Heavy stuff. Just when I think I've got this mom thing licked, something else is thrown my way. Not only am I responsible for his daily care, I now have to consider what happens after he's out of diapers and in the real world. I have to really work on raising a God-fearing, Jesus-loving boy who can stand up for himself and his beliefs. Did I mention wow? Thankfully I won't be doing it alone. Noah will be there, helping and chastising right along with me, along with Gideon's family, and his church family. This brings me great comfort. It's also nice to know that ultimately I'm not in charge and that's up to the Big Guy. All I need to do is focus on Him, pray daily for guidance (and believe me, I do!) and show Gideon how to lead a spirit-filled life by example. Whew. Enough rambling... Sunday came and the service was beautiful. Most of our family was there and came up with us to dedicate our boy, who was busy playing with a straw at the time. We prayed over him and asked God for his protection and guidance in our boy's life. We received a bible and well wishes. Good times were had by all. After church we headed to lunch with the entire family to celebrate the dedication and Noah's *ahem* 31st birthday. And everyone even mostly behaved! A true miracle! HA! It was another perfect day with our perfect boy. God has been so gracious in giving us our miracle, and we thank Him greatly. I am so glad that he has been there from the time we were first considering a baby, through the dark days of not being able to conceive one, and then the scary time we spent in the NICU praying our boy would be ok. And today, he's with us still, as I have had to use a few "no no's" on Gideon when he was actively getting into mischief, and then scooping him up into hugs to make him giggle. Yes, I believe it was all part of God's wonderful, perfect plan. And I praise Him for it!