Dedicated to the Lord

On Mother's Day, both Hannah and cousin Caleb were dedicated at our church.  Hannah was unusually fussy and flucuated from smiling and waving the the congregation to wiggling and wanting to be down to crawl around.  Weeks before a few people had mentioned that they had never seen her cry or fuss - guess she had to prove herself! 

Here's a copy of the letter that we wrote to her and Mike read out loud:

May 9, 2010
Dear Hannah Elyse,
We prayed that God would give us another child and He blessed us with you. You have been such a gift to our family. Mommy, Daddy, and Jackson love you very much. Your big brother completely adores his little sister. Hannah, you are such a sweet baby, and you bring even more joy to our home. Your laid back demeanor and crinkled-nose grins melt our hearts.

 Hannah, we know the One who created you has mighty plans for your future (Jeremiah 29:11). We are so excited to watch you grow and see the lady God molds you into. We promise to keep praying for you every day. Our prayer and hope is for you to grow up to be a godly woman who loves God with all of who you are (Matthew 22:37). We pray that Christ is not just first in your life, but that He IS your life (Deuteronomy 30:20, Colossians 3:3-4). Our desire is for you to experience the joys and successes that this life has to offer. But, more importantly, we pray for you to passionately love God and desire to follow His will and direction above all else (Proverbs 3:5-6).

We picked the following verses out for you and pray that they will be true of your life as you grow:

This is what the LORD says:
"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom
or the strong man boast of his strength
or the rich man boast of his riches,
but let him who boasts boast about this:

that he understands and knows me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,"
declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 9:23-34

As your parents, we commit to do our best to love God first and foremost in our lives, to love one another faithfully, and to model lives surrendered to God (Galatians 2:20). As you are God’s gift to us, we accept the responsibility of being faithful stewards in raising you to know Him as the Lord of your life.


We love you so very much!

Mommy and Daddy

[Thanks Aunt Cheri for sharing pics since our camera died during the ceremony!]