My dedicated little man...
Yesterday we dedicated you and your brother and sister to God. We stood before our family and friends and declared that we want to raise you to know your creator and to follow Him all the days of your life. We acknowledged our need for a village to carry and support us as parents. We need many aunts, uncles, grandparents and friends to listen to you, encourage you, pray for you and model faith to you. Yesterday that wish was fulfilled as we looked around at all the people who love you and our family and share our passion for walking you to Jesus.
Joshie, as a 5 year old, you already get it. To you God is an unshakable reality, as central to life as sun and rain, as obvious and present as the wind in the trees. Your faith is built, at the moment, on the stories of others and the teaching you receive from church, kinder, the many, many chats at home. My prayer for you is that over time, your faith will come to be built on your own experiences, your own moments of answered prayers, of still small whispers and that you'll be moved by the holy beauty which suffuses everything God has made. There will be times when God's reality does shake, and in those times, I hope we have given you the grace and the courage to keep seeking honestly, searching intently and following faithfully.
You asked me earlier this week why we can't see God. I told you that we see God anywhere where there is life and love. I see God in the faces and hands and eyes of the people who gathered around us on Sunday to dedicate our family and lift us in prayer. I see God in the spring flowers which have erupted around our neighbourhood. I see God in you, Joshie. You are full of life and love.
When we asked you what it meant to you to be dedicated, you answered - "I know God, but I'm still trying to be like him..." My prayer for you is that you make that attempt the central pillar of your life. To know God and strive to be like him. You're already so kind, helpful, responsible and selfless. I can't wait to see what God does with your life, dedicated to Him.
I love you buddy.
Mummy.
Yesterday we dedicated you and your brother and sister to God. We stood before our family and friends and declared that we want to raise you to know your creator and to follow Him all the days of your life. We acknowledged our need for a village to carry and support us as parents. We need many aunts, uncles, grandparents and friends to listen to you, encourage you, pray for you and model faith to you. Yesterday that wish was fulfilled as we looked around at all the people who love you and our family and share our passion for walking you to Jesus.
Joshie, as a 5 year old, you already get it. To you God is an unshakable reality, as central to life as sun and rain, as obvious and present as the wind in the trees. Your faith is built, at the moment, on the stories of others and the teaching you receive from church, kinder, the many, many chats at home. My prayer for you is that over time, your faith will come to be built on your own experiences, your own moments of answered prayers, of still small whispers and that you'll be moved by the holy beauty which suffuses everything God has made. There will be times when God's reality does shake, and in those times, I hope we have given you the grace and the courage to keep seeking honestly, searching intently and following faithfully.
You asked me earlier this week why we can't see God. I told you that we see God anywhere where there is life and love. I see God in the faces and hands and eyes of the people who gathered around us on Sunday to dedicate our family and lift us in prayer. I see God in the spring flowers which have erupted around our neighbourhood. I see God in you, Joshie. You are full of life and love.
When we asked you what it meant to you to be dedicated, you answered - "I know God, but I'm still trying to be like him..." My prayer for you is that you make that attempt the central pillar of your life. To know God and strive to be like him. You're already so kind, helpful, responsible and selfless. I can't wait to see what God does with your life, dedicated to Him.
I love you buddy.
Mummy.