Barrett's Baby Dedication

A recent Sunday was a very special one for my family.  On May 23rd, we celebrated Barrett West and dedicated him to the Lord in a special ceremony.

How is he 9 months old already??

Many Christian denominations have different practices when it comes to "baby dedication", so to clarify, at our celebration my husband and I made a public commitment to raise Barrett in a home in which he will learn the tenets of our faith and see it in action.  We hope that someday he will make the decision to have his own personal relationship with Christ.

The timing of the baby dedication was really special.  The celebration was almost exactly four years after our first miscarriage.  This made for an emotional day of remembrance, thankfulness, overwhelming joy, and a tinge of bittersweet grief.

We were blessed to be joined at the celebration by my parents and Jacob's mom and stepdad.  Barrett and Reed are surrounded by strong Christian examples in both of our families. 
​A priceless gift!

The children's leader at our church, Shannon, led the dedication.  She did an amazing job!  She gave a short talk that really made us think about the short time we have to invest as parents, and she emphasized planning, love, and quality time.  Jacob and I had "homework" to share with the group; we (I) wrote a letter to Barrett sharing three words that we want to define the man he becomes.  We chose strong, kind, and wise.  We (I) read the letter aloud to our family during a planned break in the ceremony.  I didn't cry (much), and I think Reed liked the letter as much as the grandparents (possibly because I included a reference to ninjas when discussing strength).

Whew, a lot of parentheses there, huh?  Anybody else notice that?

Shannon said a prayer over the babies and families, and then we had time to take pictures, chat, eat snacks, exchange gifts, and then manage the sugar rush that hit all of the children once the cookies and punch inevitably hit the bloodstream. ​

Thank you for the animal set, Cha Cha!

We are so excited and thankful to spend the rest of our lives loving our two boys and teaching them the ways of God.  An overwhelming responsibility, but the best job in the world!

Have you ever attended a baby dedication or similar celebration?  I would love to hear how your church does it.  Our experience with Reed was much different, more of a presentation in front of the congregation.  Please share your "Baby D" stories in the comments!