Dedication

ded-i-cate

(-verb, used with object):

to devote wholly and earnestly, as to some person or purpose

On Mother's Day, we dedicated our baby girl, Keeley Summer, to God. As much as I love my children, I know that God gave them to me and they belong to Him. Which also means that He loves them more than I do. Because I know this, I can trust Him with them. I can trust my loving Father to take care of my children. The dedication service is my way of formally sharing with others that I entrust my child to the care of my Heavenly Father. In light of the recent death of two different friends' children, trusting God with my child is hard. Knowing in my head that He loves my child is one thing, but feeling that He loves my child is another. Sometimes I ask him why He lets little children die or why He lets bad things happen. I haven't sorted all of that out, but I know that His thoughts are greater than mine and that I do not have to understand everything in order to trust Him. That is the faith that my friends are living right now. Still, I choose to trust Him for the best in my life and in my child's life.

I believe that God has a plan for Keeley Summer and for David Russell.

My family came to the service, and my friend Shannon came too! I was so happy almost everyone could make it. (My brother had to work.) I am not a formal person, so I didn't really feel the need for a super-long, white christening gown. But I got her a light-pink, smocked dress. She was so pretty. Unfortunately, no one thought to take photos before or after the service, so all I have are these that were taken at church. (Not the best lighting) I did the best I could to edit them nicely.

Keeley slept through the entire ceremony.

Here is the scripture verse we chose for the ceremony for Keeley:

But this is the one I wanted to do.

Song of Solomon 4:7 ESV

You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.

We didn't want people to think that we thought our child was perfect... but here's why I wanted this verse:

I struggle with feelings of inadequacy. I can never do enough or be good enough. I want my daughter {and my son too!} to know that she does not have to be good enough. She just has to recognize that she can never be good enough and accept the gift of forgiveness from Jesus Christ. God sees us as perfect and flawless through the blood of Jesus Christ.

I just read this blog post from my favorite blog (Jones Design Company) about this very subject and it was very touching to me:

In retrospect, I probably would have made a bigger fuss about Keeley's dedication if I had more time. It would have been neat to get photos and throw a luncheon at my house afterwards. But you can't do everything (still a lesson I'm learning).

Time for bed!