Baby Dedication

Last Sunday Ella had her Baby Dedication at church. We had a great time celebrating after the service with friends and family (oh, and food)!  It is always hard to not have my family around for things like this, but I am so grateful for my dear friends that came to celebrate with us.  Ella is so blessed to have so many loving friends in her life already!

Ella's dedication was a good reminder of what it means for us to raise Ella as her parents.  At our church, Common Ground Christian Church, the children are not baptized as a baby.  It is more of a public statement to the congregation and a commitment to God from the parents to raise their children in the way of Jesus.  (Ella can choose to be baptized later in life when she accepts Christ).  Chris and I both felt very challenged after going through the Child Dedication class and were reminded of how important our job is as a parent.  We have been blessed with our daughter and now it is our job to raise her in the way of the Lord, with God's help of course.

Here is a verse that we went over in class that I enjoyed, 

"He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded the fathers to teach to their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children not yet born, and they in turn would tell their children.  Then they would not forget his works but keep his commandments." Psalm 78:5-7

You can see from this that God desires for every generation to know and trust in Him. Not only did He rescue us and save us, but we need to constantly remember Him in our daily actions and keep His commandments.  What a job we have as parents!!  Whew!

 Of course I will leave you with some pictures now :)

 All dolled up before church

 Love. Her.

 Family Pic (as if you wouldn't have guessed that)

Ella and The Danforth cousins :o)

(they love her soooo much, it's so sweet to watch them interact with her)

Have a wonderful weekend!