(more pictures at the bottom of this long post!)
Two weeks ago, we celebrated Peyton's dedication to Christ. Because our church is quite large, dedication ceremonies are private and facilitated by a leader from the church. The ceremony itself is built around a covenant the parents write for their child and commit to before God, the church community, family and friends. Here is the covenant we wrote for Peyton.
Peyton,
Today we stand in front of God and our family in what is called a “Dedication Ceremony.” To dedicate means “to give entirely to” and so this type of ceremony is often where parents give their child to God. That is not what we are here to do today. You already belong to God, you always have been his. We are the ones to whom something has been given. God has given you to us, not as a possession – we do not own you – but as a gift and trust to nurture, guide, and encourage. So today we are here to acknowledge what you are, a gift from God, and to covenant with God and with you to be the parents that He asks us to be and that you deserve.
Parents do not get to choose whether their child will be a boy or a girl, what color eyes or hair they will have, whether they will be healthy, or even whether they will be a parent at all. You were appropriately born on Thanksgiving Day because you have given us so much to be thankful for. In you, God has blessed us with a joyful boy with bright eyes, a ready smile and a personality we discover every day. You are truly a gift and we would not trade you for another. We hope you feel the same way because this is not an arrangement that can be changed. There may be days when we wish it could, like when it seems the only word in your vocabulary is “no,” or when you steal money from your mother’s purse to buy candy, or total two cars in three months. No matter what happens, through good times and bad times, whether near or far away, you will always be our son, we will always be your parents and you will always be loved.
Our hope is that you will grow to be a person who knows God to be his Heavenly Father, who follows Jesus Christ, and who is led by the Holy Spirit. We commit to you that we will be examples of that kind of person. We will show you how God moves and works in you, our family, and our world. We will remind you that Jesus loves you and read the Bible to you and point out where it tells you so. We will teach you the greatest commandment – to love God and love people – and show you how everything else starts there. We will pray for you and with you – teaching you that God hears you and cares about what you have to say. We will follow where God leads, no matter how hard that may be, and we will teach you to hear His voice and let you go where He asks you to go.
We promise to provide you with a home where you will find refuge. We promise to love each other and embarrass you by kissing in front of you. We will live out our marriage vows to the fullest – you will not have to worry whether your parents will stay together or not. Our home will be one where you can feel safe to have emotions and express them and where you will never be told the lie that “real men don’t cry.” We cannot promise that you will never get hurt but when you do get hurt we promise that you will find comfort in us. We don’t promise that we will give you every thing and every toy that you could ever want (we will leave that to your grandparents) but we do promise that you will have everything that you need. We cannot completely shield you from all the violence and greed in this world but we will strive to keep our home a place where you will find and learn peace and contentment.
We believe that God has placed in you the seeds of great and wonderful things, and we pledge to cultivate those things in you to help you become all that you were intended to be. You have value; we never want you to doubt that. We will help you discover your gifts and encourage you to develop them. When the weeds of sin come in to choke your growth, we will discipline you. We will never do it out of anger but always out of the desire to keep you from doing the things that will hold you back.
The trust God has placed in us when He gave you to us is a responsibility we do not take lightly. All this we covenant with you and with God before our family, asking them to hold us accountable. We do not imagine that we will be the perfect parents; neither do we assume that you will be the perfect child. So while we will strive to be your champions, we know we will make mistakes and we will let you down. And while you will be the source of our deepest joy, you may also be the source of our greatest heartaches. Despite our shortcomings, this we know - through God, he who created us and gave us to each other, who sent His Son to save us and show us the way, and who gave us His Spirit to encourage and guide us, through His divine Power we have everything we need.
We love you, Peyton.
Daddy and Mommy
Reading the covenant
Listening to the charge to us from Greg Mutch, one of our community life pastors
We were so blessed to share this day with grandmas and grandmas, great grandma and great grandpa, aunts, uncles and cousins. Thank you for sharing it with us - and supporting our family. And thank you to my cousin Rachel, who made two yummy cheesecakes for our little after party. Check out her baking business at
www.cheesecakeibake.blogspot.com
