Elizabeth's baby dedication

A few weeks ago Chip and I dedicated Elizabeth to the Lord during one of our church's Sunday services. I grew up in a church where child dedications happened quite often, but it occurred to me that several people may not know what it is or what it's all about.

Basically when a child is dedicated to the Lord, it's simply the parents standing up in front of the church congregation, publicly declaring that they will raise that child as best as they can with the help of God, stating that they acknowledge they are stewards of their child, and affirming that they have no clue what they are doing and will fully rely on God to guide them. I'm kidding on the "no clue" part, but not really. I mean, no one makes any parents stand up and say, "We have no idea what we're doing," but I think most parents think that one or two (hundred) times during their kids' childhoods. Am I right, parents?

We went up front and our pastor asked us questions which we answered with, "We will." When we dedicated Elizabeth at Faith Community, here's what we affirmed in front of our church family:

- We recognize her as a gift from God and give thanks for her.

- We recognize she belongs completely to God and surrendered all worldly claims on her life. A couple of years ago our pastor introduced us to the concept of a "ten second prayer." Whenever you tell someone you will pray for them, you stop right there and do it. Even if it's just for ten seconds. Or, if you are in a discussion with someone about something, you pause, and say, "Ten second prayer," and pray right then. Or, if someone or some situation comes across your mind, you say a ten second prayer. It's so quick, but you can say a lot in ten seconds! Chip and I have become big fans of the ten second prayer. We do it often during our every day conversations. One of us will say, "ten second prayer," and then just one of us says one or two sentences in prayer. Sometimes we're in the same room when we do this, sometimes we are far apart and on the phone. For whatever reason, often we are in the kitchen. When I was pregnant with Elizabeth we were talking about something related to her well-being and we decided to do a ten second prayer. In that moment God revealed to me that this little life growing inside of me belonged completely to Him and we were guaranteed no set amount time with her. He had called us to do the best as her parents for however long He has decided to give her to us. So I did a ten second prayer recognizing that we are stewards of her life and our job is to be her parents to the best of our ability but that she is not ours to keep. We hold her in our hands, not in a tight grip, but with open hands. Because when you have a tight grip on something or someone, your hand is clenched, and not available to receive more from God. So, this point of Elizabeth's dedication really resonated with me. She does not belong to us. She belongs to God and He has given her to us and it's our job to do the best that we can with what He has given us.

- We pledged to raise her in discipline and instruction of the Lord; making all effort to teach her the Word of God and the character of Christ in order to bring the joy of the Lord into her life.

-We promised to provide physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual needs for her while looking to God for wisdom, love, and strength in order to serve her.

-We promised to regularly pray that she will come to trust Jesus and follow Him. And for extra measure, I often tack on that she will love others with the love of Christ and that her light for Jesus will shine brightly, becoming a beacon to those who need love or encouragement.

After we affirmed ALL of that in front of the congregation, it was our church family's turn! Knowing that it takes many people who love Jesus to help us cultivate Elizabeth's faith as she discovers who she is in Christ, we turn to the church family for help. The church then affirmed that they also recognize her as a gift, they promised to pray for her and lastly promised to nurture her faith by being the people who teach her throughout her childhood. The people who will teach her on Sunday mornings, who will be her AWANA leaders, who will volunteer during Vacation Bible School were sitting in church that day and we willingly accept their talents and gifts to help develop her faith! When I look back at all of the people who taught me in church during my childhood, the list gets very long very fast! We want Elizabeth to have the same experience of Godly people who are so willing to give of their time for her.

Our pastor then put his hand on Elizabeth and told her that she was being dedicated to Lord and that we surrendered all worldly claims upon her life because she belongs wholly and completely to God.

Lastly we had family and elders of the church come up to the front of the church and gather around the three of us as our pastor prayed for Elizabeth and for us as parents.

Last week a friend posted this saying on his FaceBook page and I thought it was so appropriate for this blog post I was working on. So, I include it here and say, "Amen!" in agreement. We will continually pray throughout Elizabeth's life that we recognize she belongs to God and then we'll thank Him for putting her in our care.

We are so excited to see what God has in store for Elizabeth and how He will use her in furthering the greatest story of history...the story of God's love for mankind and how He sent His son to save a lost and dying world.

Random Acts of Kindness

Thirty-three days ago I turned the big four-oh. In the days leading up to this birthday, I thought about what I could do to mark the occasion. After kicking around on Pinterest for a while, I saw a couple of posts of people who did random acts of kindness on their birthday as a way to spread a little cheer while celebrating their day. They did one random act of kindness for every year of their life. In both cases, the do-gooders where MUCH younger than 40 and were able to all of their random acts of kindness in one day. I knew there was no way I was going get 40 random acts done in one day. So I gave myself the entire month since my birthday was on the first. Then I added the component of asking friends on Facebook to do one random act of kindness on my birthday. About ten people told me they did a random act of kindness on my birthday! How cool is that? And they happened through out the country and even one in Canada. :) Spreading the kindness.

So, did I get all 40 done in May? Nope. I fell short. I have about 10 left to do, so I'm going to keep going into June to get all 40 checked off the list. I didn't do 40 different acts, but rather did several, and often times I did the same thing more than once. But here's some of what I did do in May:

1. In a store parking lot I ended up parking next to a car that had a firefighter designated license plate. So I put a pack of licorice on their windshield with a note that it was a random act of kindness. I kept extra candy in my car and did this two other times as well.

2. While shopping in the diaper aisle of a store, there was a woman buying a specific brand. I had two coupons for the brand she was buying so I gave the coupons to her, saving her a few bucks. One was a manufacturer coupon and one was a store coupon so I told her she could use both that same time. She was grateful.

3. When our baby had a check up at our local clinic I brought small baskets of Starburst candy along. I gave one to the girls at the check-in station, one to the crew at the lab, and then I ran one down to the nurses in the birth suite of the hospital where we had our baby. Each time I explained that I was doing it in honor of turning 40. I gave to the lab and the check-in crews because I figured they probably don't get a lot of treats or gifts from patients.

4. I taped a dollar with a note to the back of a toy in the dollar store. Some child will eventually find it and get a free toy! I taped it so the dollar was sticking out a little bit so it wouldn't get missed. I'm going to do this one again, I just need to get some more dollar bills. I like thinking about some kid finding it and getting a free toy! It's only a dollar, but if you were a kid and found it, wouldn't you remember that for a long time?

5. I bought a box of microwave popcorn, taped a random acts of kindness note to each one and wrote with a marker "Enjoy free popcorn with your movie!" Then I drove to five separate RedBox locations near my work and home and taped popcorn to the boxes. I still have one left to give away.

6. I put four quarters in a baggie with a note and taped it to a pop machine so someone could get a free pop. I'll probably do this one again as well.

7. I had a bunch of coupons that were expiring in a few days and knew I wouldn't use them. So I spent an extra 20 minutes in the store, walking around and putting the coupons on the products so that when people were shopping, they would find a little savings!

8. I gathered stray carts in a parking lot. I'll probably do this one again too...doesn't cost me anything!

9. I left a gift bag filled with taffy for our mail carrier. I put a note on it and the next day I got a post-it note as a thank-you from our mail carrier. And now I know her name.

10. I donated food to the local food shelf.

Most of my random acts included candy. Because who doesn't like candy? Hopefully I didn't give any to any diabetics! Is some licorice stuck under a windshield wiper going to change the world? Nope. But there is just so much DARKNESS in this world. So many people are hurting. Or making really bad choices. It's so easy to spread some LIGHT. It does the heart so much good to take the focus off yourself and simply be kind or encourage. Our society would be so much HAPPIER if people would just take the focus off themselves once in a while. There's so much entitlement and so many who have not been taught that the world is not all about them. There are so many miserable people because they care only about themselves. The thing they have not discovered is the irony of when you think of others is that it brings you happiness. I am so thankful for all of the people who DO spread cheer and encouragement and light and love. Not in some hippy-dippy way, but in practical ways. People who encourage the discouraged, people who give their time and efforts to volunteer and make someone else's life a little better, people who treat the helpless decently, people who respect authority, people who go the extra mile to bring a little happiness to someone else. All without expecting anything in return. I am SURROUNDED by people like this. And I'm so thankful for it.

I really like the song "Do Something" by Matthew West. The message is so true - so many people ask God, "Why don't you fix these problems?" And His answer is, "I did. I created YOU. DO SOMETHING." Don't wait for someone else to tackle the troubles of this world. You ARE someone. And God gave you talents and abilities to help others. It doesn't matter your age, your education, or economic standing. Everyone can do something to make the world a better place. It's like the song says, "We're never going to change the world by standing still." Go out and encourage, spread kindness, serve, SHINE.