Giving Him Back

On Sunday, January 26th before the church congregation we dedicated our son Everett Allen to the Lord. In our faith we believe in giving back to God what is rightfully His. He blessed us with a beautiful baby boy and so we give him back like Hannah presented her son to the priest in I Samuel. One day when Everett is older and understands he will choose on his to own to accept God's will in his life and be baptized in the precious name of Jesus. But for now as his parents we give him to the Lord, asking for wisdom and guidance as we raise him to be the young man God created him to be.

Everett sat and listened almost to the end - then he fell asleep.

Our Pastor and father/father-in-law spoke for a few minutes about raising up a child in the way he should go. He spoke about teaching Everett the commandments and the ways of God, to live for Him. This is something that is not just done when we bring him to Sunday school or worship with him in service but this is done day in and day out in our home. Following his speaking he and the Bishop and Founding Pastor, Bro. Sechrist, our childhood pastor, prayed for Dustin and I, that we would be the parents we need to be and raise him in the ways of the Lord. Then Everett was prayed for, that God would keep him and guide him all the days of his life.

I have learned from watching my parents and my in-laws that giving your child to the Lord is not just something that happens in the beginning of their life. But it is something you do over and over again. When they are baby with their first cold and you can't fix it. When they are elementary age and have questions about the world that slowly take away their innocence. When they are teenagers and start to create relationships and begin to give of themselves and their heart. When they are young adults attempting to take on the world, when they have a family and are doing the best they can. Placing your child in God's hands takes faith that when you've done all you can do God will certainly step in and do the rest.

Everett with his Papa and Bishop Sechrist

Our family with our two spiritual mentors - so thankful for these men!

I am so thankful that Dustin and I both have such godly examples of what being a parent, especially in this day and age, takes. I am thankful that we are surrounded by such loving family members, both biologically and spiritually. Family that loves us and stands behind us, supporting and guiding. And family that loves our son so very much. In this way we have been so very blessed.