Natalie-Rose's dedication October 18, 2009.

I said I would write about Natalie-Rose's dedication. So here we go...

As a family of Christians, with beliefs that are most similar to Baptist, we believe in believer's baptism. Which means that once a person makes the decision to follow Jesus, then they are baptized to symbolically show the inner change of their heart. We see this example in the New Testament.

We don't believe infant baptism is harmful or wrong, just unnecessary and not in the Bible.

What we do believe in is dedicating children to the Lord, to commit to raise them in the knowledge and Love of God.

My parents dedicated me and my two brothers when Nathan was a baby, since they came to the Lord after Jed and I were born.

Now that the adoption is as good as done, they thought it was time to dedicate Natalie. It worked out wonderfully that the dedication was planned for when Ema was visiting!

Here we all are up at the front. It's a family affair! The whole family had a chance to share something. Our Elders, Blane and Philip, shared from their heart the most wonderful, sweet things about the encouragement and inspiration they have recieved from our family. Totally unexpected. And very humbling! And then the whole family was prayed over.

This is the cake I made for the special occasion. The cake is a white cake, filled with raspberry jam, iced with strawberry buttercream and decorated with royal icing drop flowers. Yum! The message is "For this child I prayed" from 1 Samuel 1:27.

Natalie loved it! And she and Christiana kept picking the flowers off!

We also played the song by Steven Curtis Chapman "When love takes you in" about adoption.

So poignant for several families in our fellowship!

This was such a meaningful and special occasion. We are so thankful to be Natalie-Rose's "forever family".

(Thanks to Emily for taking the pictures!)