Dedicated

In my previous post, I mentioned we tacked on one more weekend adventure to our travel calendar. And while we were craving some time at home, this was was a trip well worth it. As I write about quite frequently, our niece Lydia has completely stolen our hearts, so it was a special honor to be present for her baby dedication. This ceremony is in place of infant baptism, as Nathan and Tara's church practices adult baptism, but the meaning is essentially the same. Nathan and Tara pledged to raise their daughter in a godly household, to teach her biblical statutes, and to show her the love of our Father. The pastor shared a prayer for her, and the congregation smiled at the cuteness of the three babies up front--a beautiful moment.

Lydia is 4 months old. Despite frustrating her parents with her disinterest in sleep, there is little evidence of the corruption of sin. She is beautiful, pure, and innocent. Just look at her!

Her future is full of possibilities and choices to make. While it would be comforting to know the paths she will take or to make some of the hard choices for her, we as her family cannot. She'll make her share of mistakes, but we will be praying she has the courage and strength to make the right choices for the big issues in life, especially the choice to become a follower of Christ.

Although the freshness of her life emphasizes the potential of her future, I was reminded that I, too, must constantly make the decision to dedicate my choices to be pleasing to our God. While we all may be further down the road than Lydia, may we all realize that we have a fresh future thanks to grace, for if we are in Christ, we are new creations! (Check out 2 Corinthians 5:17)

Father God, may Your hand guide our sweet niece to know and love You. No matter what talents she may have, may she use them to bring You glory. No matter how tall she stands, may she hold her head up in the confidence of knowing her Savior. No matter how beautiful she becomes, may her inner beauty shine brighter. No matter how far away her family may live, may she know our love for her. Yet no matter how much we love her, may she know You love her more.

And Lord, whatever choices we have to make, whatever paths our future holds, may we be found dedicated to You.