Dedicated

I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord for his whole life.
1 Samuel 1:27-28 NLT

This verse is from the book of Samuel, when Hannah took the child she had begged God for to the temple to dedicate him back to God. She recognized that God was the one that had blessed her with a child, and she was acknowledging his goodness. That is where we get the concept of dedication. It is different than baptism, and it is just an acknowledgement that God is the one that has blessed us with this life, and we give him back into God's care.

We had Judah dedicated when we were in Iowa so my mom and brother-in-law could do it, and I also really wanted it to be done in the church my dad pastored for 19 years. I so wish he was there to hold his grandson in his arms and dedicate him to God. Judah has been such a blessing to us, and is a constant reminder that God gives and God takes away, but he is always faithful. It was such a beautiful service and even more special was the blessing that Isaac's parents wrote for Judah. It is definately something we will always remember and treasure.

My desire is that Judah would know who God is and live for Him always. I want Judah to understand that he is here for a reason, God has a plan for him, and that his life is infinitely precious to us.

Our family expands...

This month has just flown by! April is my favorite month because of our anniversary on the 3rd and my birthday on the 15th. What made it even more special this year was that my baby brother got married the day after our anniversary, and my kids got to be in the wedding. It really was the event of the year for our family! Here are a few pics of the weekend....






And a few more......



It was a beautiful day. I loved seeing my brother so in love. My favorite part of the wedding was when he got his guitar and sang to his new bride. I also loved the candle they had made in memory of my dad. He would have been so proud of his son. Dustin and Joanna also had necklaces made from his purity ring and her mom's engagement ring (she had given it to Dustin so he could use the diamond for Joanna's). It was a double heart pendant and it was beautiful! Who knew my brother could be so thoughtful? All in all, it was a wonderful time with family, new family, and a new life together.

Our anniversary

Today is our five year anniversary. We are in Iowa for my brother's wedding, and have been doing "wedding stuff" all day in preparation for tomorrow. We were so busy that we didn't really get a chance to be together at all, and that made me a little sad.We are going to go out in a few days when all the wedding craziness is over. It sure is nice to be near grandma and have some free babysitting! No matter where we are or what we are doing, I still know how lucky I am to be married to this incredible man. I don't take a second of our life together for granted.

All of this wedding stuff has been bringing back so many memories of our own wedding day five years ago, and how incredibly happy that day was. I wish I could go back to that day, and say those words again. My naive 24-year-old self had absolutely no idea what it meant to love in richer and poorer, in sickness and in health. I had no idea what it meant to cherish someone, to honor them, to put their needs before my own. We have only been married for five short years, and I know there is much more that we will experience and endure, but I would like to go back and say those words to him again. Now that I have a little glimpse of what those words mean and all they encompass, I would say them again with much more conviction, sure that this is the one person that I want to experience every single second of whatever life brings us. Those words mean so much more to me now, and I mean them just as much.