Maya's Baby Dedication

Oh Maya, our sweet second child.  Our prayed for, cried over, long-awaited second child.  In typical second-child fashion, her baby dedication was a smaller affair than her brother's (part 1 and part 2!), but she is no less celebrated in our family!

In early April, as part of our church service, Maya and two other children were dedicated - which just meant that as parents, we committed to raising her in a home that teaches our children about the Lord.  Here we are before the service began - 

I suggested, and Cas agreed, to include Collin in the service.  I had romantic notions that Collin would remember when we had prayed that God would allow me to get pregnant and that he'd have a brother or sister - a prayer we said together from before he was two years old.  And so I envisioned this being a meaningful ceremony with him, as we dedicated this baby we prayed over in our family to God.

I should have known as I watched my four year old dance like a maniac to the worship song and fidget in the pew for the whole 7 minutes he was in the adult service, that Collin wouldn't appreciate Maya's dedication as much as Cas and I would.  Our family and our pastor -

We cannot express how delighted we are to have Maya in our family!

We were up at the front of our church probably no more than 5 minutes, but it felt like 30 as Collin acted like a clown and Maya started to fall apart.  Church always falls on Maya's morning nap, so while it is extremely rare for her to have a pacifier unless she's sleeping, it was either the pacifier or a wailing baby dedication.

And for some reason Collin decided to gnaw on Maya's leg.  The mysterious brains of four year old boys!

Encouraging him to stand up rather than sit on the stage and then crawl on the stage over to the instruments.  So much for him valuing this ceremony of his baby sister!

Praying as a family -

While Collin looks like he's having fun, this is because he and Maya were babbling to each other during the prayer.  He didn't understand why Maya could interrupt the prayer with her loud "baa's" but I'd shoot him serious looks when he echoed her!

Maya's baby dedication reinforced that:
1.  We are so, so thankful to our God, who alone creates life and gave us this precious child
2.  We are so, so in need of a Savior - based on Collin's repeated disobedience and my frustration with his behavior, we have a lot of opportunities to teach of God's grace in our house
3.  We are so, so grateful to be part of a church family that is committed to teaching the Word of God, loving our neighbors, and growing in community with one another