Katelyn's Dedication

I've been negligent. I'll admit it. The blog fell low on the priority list this week and while we have a lot to update you on, when there are only 24 hours in a day something's gotta give, right?! And most nights, my own personal shut-eye is too important to cut into :)

Sunday was an important and significant day for Katelyn and us. We had her dedicated at our church. For the past year and half, we have been attending Open Door, which is a non-denominational, Christ-centered church. Michael and I are both involved in the church in different capacities; I'm in a women's bible study that meets every Thursday night and I also volunteer in the kids ministry and Michael helps out by mentoring in the teen ministry called NextGen. The church is located literally a block away from our house, which is mostly how we discovered it ... truly a blessing in our own backyard! Michael and I agree that our faith in God both personally and as a couple has never been stronger and we credit much of that to Open Door.

 As such, we felt it was time to dedicate Katelyn to the Lord through the child dedication ceremony offered through the church. It's similar to baptism in that we intentionally invite the Spirit of God to work in Katelyn's heart and life to bring her to a place of faith. Additionally, Michael and I feel so incredibly humbled and blessed to be Katelyn's parents that this is our way of acknowledging that it's by God's grace that she's our daughter.

My parents came to town for the weekend to be at the dedication and our friends Matt and Shelly (who also attend Open Door) joined us in the celebration too! (Above, Katelyn is holding a special bracelet given to her by Matt, Shelly, and their boys in honor of the dedication.) We chose my parents as Katelyn's sponsors which means they make a commitment to pray for her and live as spiritual role models. According to my mom, they already pray for Katelyn everyday, so perhaps they've been her sponsors for some time now :)

Here's the pledge we made as parents when dedicating Katelyn:

Before God, our family, and this church we declare our desire to dedicate you to the Lord. Our commitment is to raise you in the love of Christ. With God's help, we desire to be examples of His grace and His love. Our prayer is that you will hunger and thirst for God's righteousness. May you be filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit, and may you choose to follow Jesus your whole life long.

Katelyn was great during the ceremony and then we all stayed for the potluck luncheon afterwards. It was a great day! We found ourselves full of gratitude, hope, and peace as we helped Katelyn take the first step in her faith journey. May you walk in the grace of God today and always, Katelyn Clare!