Garrett & Paige's Dedication...

This morning at church we were finally able to have Garrett and Paige dedicated. It took us longer than we had hoped to have this done, because we were insanely overwhelmed when the twins came and our church was in the middle of several pastoral transitions. But thankfully, today was the day. We were sad that our family wasn't able to be here to celebrate with us, but I think we're getting used to the reality that our families are not close by. However, because of that reality, the twins dedication was particularly poignant because our church really has become our family here. When Garrett and Paige were born, it was our church family that brought us meals, helped do laundry, and cleaned my kitchen (after my mother and mother-in-law had to return home). In fact, I had help in some form every weekday until the babies were two and a half months old. There were people like Liz who came at LEAST 4 times and started cleaning the moment she arrived without asking for direction. And there were people like Chuck and Debbe who we hardly knew at that point, but brought us dinner, helped with the kids AND washed our windows inside and out. And there were people like Jeff, a bachelor who was unafraid of volunteering his time (despite knowing little about babies himself), and after playing with the kids fell asleep in the recliner with Paige on his chest. That's just a handful of the names I could put on here. And there were people who remain un-named that donated money so we could hire a house cleaner for three days of our choosing. And then there's all the people that were faithfully praying for us without us even knowing it. I seriously do not think we would have survived those first few months without that assistance. So our church has already proven that they are dedicated to coming alongside us to help raise our kids and show them about God's love.

Here's Pastor Rick praying with Garrett and Paige. We were pleasantly surprised that neither of them cried! Garrett watch Pastor Rick intently, as if he was soaking up every word coming out of his mouth.


And here's our family after the dedication. Yes... the entire family was dressed in coordinating pink, white and brown. Yes... I have an illness.


When I was reflecting before church on this day, I got quite emotional. As a parent you have such strong desires for your children... that they grow up happy, healthy, successful. But for Steve and I, our biggest desire is that our kids grow up falling in love with Jesus and reflecting His love to everyone they come in contact with. So I just ask that all of our friends and family out there in "blog land" pray that for our kids after reading this post. And we are dedicated to do the same!